Song of the Caged Bird
by Apfel Seine
Summary: When Yuri mysteriously disappears, Flynn and the others go on a search that takes them to the realm of the angels where Flynn discovers that it will be harder to bring Yuri home than he expected. (Flynn/Yuri)
1. Chapter 1

**Song of the Caged Bird**

**Series: **Tales of Vesperia

**Pairing(s):** Flynn/Yuri, one sided OC/Yuri, possible hints of Ristelle(?)

**Summary: **When Yuri mysteriously disappears, Flynn and the others go on a search that takes them to the realm of the angels where Flynn discovers that it will be harder to bring Yuri home than he expected.

**Warnings:** m/m slash (with possibly some hints of f/f ), possible spoilers, and pathetic attempts at chapter titles

(There is currently no explicit content planned, but I'm rating it M just in case such elements work their way in later.)

**A/N:** Hello everyone. This is my first attempt at a fanfiction with multiple chapters, so I hope I don't do too badly with it. I want to say thanks to the people who read and reviewed my previous stories, since I feel more motivated to do this from your wonderful compliments. I think I've improved a lot since the last story I uploaded on here. I hope that you enjoy this story and I'll do my best to update this story as often as I can. I might even finish it before the summer is over. Also, this story doesn't have a beta like I hoped it would, so please forgive the spelling or grammar mistakes that I may make. Constructive criticism is much appreciated though.

**Disclaimer:** Tales of Vesperia and its characters do not belong to me. The only thing that belongs to me is the story and any original characters that appear. The social hierarchy of the angels, who appear later on in the story, is based loosely on that of the social hierarchy of the Celestians in Dragon Quest IX (which is an awesome game by the way and was part of the reason that I was inspired to write this story. I really recommend playing it). You do not have to have played that game to understand the story though.

**[***]**

**Chapter 1 - A Birthday Spent Together**

It was a beautiful spring day outside, and Flynn took a moment to appreciate it before turning away from his window and back towards his work. There was not much of it left, since Flynn had already taken care of most of it the night before. He had also requested that Sodia deal with any incoming paperwork that had to be done. Flynn felt slightly guilty about having to do so, but once Sodia had learned that he was going to be celebrating his 25th birthday, she quickly insisted that she was more than happy to help him out and do a little extra work. She had also insisted that he let her help out a lot more, but despite telling her that he would, Flynn knew that he would most likely end up doing it all himself. That was just the sort of person that he was. Perhaps Yuri was right to say that he worked too hard.

At the thought of his childhood friend, Flynn couldn't help but smile. Recently, Yuri had taken to visiting him more often than usual, and despite complaining about it the truth was that Flynn didn't really mind. Actually, he was quite pleased that Yuri was spending more time with him. It had started to feel as if they were drifting apart, and every time Flynn considered that, he felt a little empty inside. His work left him with little free time, so he was never able to take the initiative to visit Yuri.

Luckily, Yuri still took time to visit him even though Flynn seemed to have a terrible habit of saying something insensitive and pissing Yuri off. At least their fights had become somewhat more subdued in recent years. Perhaps that was because Yuri was more well traveled and was actually doing things with his life instead of sitting around the Lower Quarter all the time. Or perhaps it was something else entirely. When Flynn thought about it, he realized that a change had come over his friend after their battle at Aurnion where Yuri had defeated Flynn in battle for the first time. It was almost as if a peace had come over him, and Flynn couldn't help but wonder if it was the first time Yuri had ever felt equal to him.

Flynn had always considered himself Yuri's equal, but certain things that Yuri would say or do tipped Flynn off that he saw Flynn as being on a different level from his own. The way Yuri would pin all the glory on Flynn and take the blame for everything onto his own shoulders had always irritated Flynn. He simply could not understand why Yuri didn't realize that they were equal with each other. Flynn was not so perfect that he was above anyone else, and likewise Yuri was not so flawed that he deserved to be seen as a common criminal. Flynn had his imperfections and Yuri had good intentions for everything that he did. It had taken a long time, but it was finally beginning to seem as if Yuri understood this as well as Flynn did.

Because Flynn was lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize at first that he had finished all his work. When he reached for another report, he was shocked to find that there were no more reports left. He had just been signing things and had hardly read the reports at all. Flynn sighed, knowing that he would have to read over the reports again to make sure that everything was in order. After taking a few more minutes to go over the files again, Flynn was satisfied that he was finished with his work. He placed them into a neat pile for Sodia to retrieve later, then went back to his room to change into civilian clothes.

As Flynn made his way out of the castle, he received several surprised looks from the knights on patrol. Had they really never seen him in civilian clothes before? Flynn smiled at them and nodded in acknowledgment as they saluted him. He was a little relieved once he made it out of the castle. Although he loved his work, he could do without all the formalities that came with it. The castle always felt fairly stuffy, and once he stepped outside into the fresh air, he felt instantly relieved. It was fairly obvious why Yuri hated the castle so much. Perhaps he really should try to get out a bit more.

Flynn made his way down to the Lower Quarter where he had arranged to meet Yuri. He sat down on the edge of the fountain to wait, feeling quite excited that he would get to spend the rest of the day with Yuri. Since it was a special occasion, Yuri had promised to cook for him, and that was always something to look forward to. As he sat waiting, he noticed a group of boys carrying wooden swords that were crowded around someone who was sitting on the ground. Fairly curious, Flynn got up and walked closer. As he walked closer, he noticed that it was Yuri who the boys were surrounding. Upon noticing Flynn approach, Yuri looked up and grinned at him.

"Hey Flynn," he greeted. "Just give me a minute. I'm currently being vanquished."

"The monster isn't supposed to talk Yuri!" one of the boys cried.

"Sorry," Yuri replied, chuckling and throwing his hands up apologetically. "Could you hurry up and defeat me already? I promised Flynn we'd hang out."

One of the boys turned to Flynn and grabbed onto his arm, looking up expectantly at Flynn with a bright smile on his face.

"Will you help us vanquish the monster Flynn?"

"It'll be my pleasure," Flynn said, chuckling and placing his hand on his sword.

"Hey! No fair!" Yuri protested. "You can't gang up on me with Flynn!"

"Die foul monster!" the boys cried in unison as they all charged at Yuri.

Yuri quickly threw up his hands to defend himself as the boys all tackled him. Despite having agreed to help, Flynn stayed back and watched as Yuri tussled with the boys. Yuri pretended to put up a fight, but submitted fairly easily and allowed the boys to 'kill' him. When the boys finally backed off, Yuri sat up and grinned at them.

"That was fun guys, but that's enough for today," Yuri said.

The boys all whined in protest and tried to convince Yuri to play with them some more, but they eventually let up on him and went off on some new adventure. Yuri watched them go and chuckled to himself. Flynn offered his hand to Yuri and helped him to his feet.

"Are you alright Yuri?" Flynn asked, causing Yuri to laugh and wave a hand dismissively.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Yuri said. "Those boys really don't hold back though."

"I can see that," Flynn said, looking up and down at Yuri's disheveled appearance. He was covered in dirt and his hair was fairly mussed up from rolling around on the ground. Yuri noticed this as well and smiled sheepishly at Flynn.

"Sorry about this," Yuri said. "They asked if I wanted to play with them and I couldn't say no. I figured that I could change quickly before you got here. I didn't know that you'd get here so early."

Flynn smiled at Yuri, understanding exactly how persuasive children could be when they wanted to play. He himself had often been coerced into joining in the make believe games of the children. Of course, Yuri was even more of a pushover then Flynn was when it came to children. Flynn had never seen Yuri turn away a child who wanted to play.

"Its fine," Flynn reassured him. "Lets head over to your room so you can change out of those dirty clothes. Then we can decide what we want to do today."

"Alright," Yuri said, nodding.

Flynn followed Yuri as he led the way to his small room in the inn. He waited outside as Yuri slipped inside to change quickly. After a few minutes, Yuri opened the door and stepped outside. Flynn gaped at him, noticing that Yuri had changed into a suit and a purple dress shirt. It was much more formal than Flynn was used to seeing him, although Yuri had still left his shirt open halfway.

"Wow... You look... nice..." Flynn said, still slightly awestruck.

"Well, I thought it'd be nice to dress up. Especially since it's your birthday," Yuri said, shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal.

"I didn't even know you _owned_ clothing like that."

Yuri merely shrugged in response and began descending the stairs. He paused halfway down and waited until Flynn began to follow him. They walked side by side around the Lower Quarter for a while, catching up with each other. As usual, all of Flynn's stories seemed to be focused around his work, while Yuri's stories were all about traveling to exotic places and fighting powerful monsters. Flynn couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the freedom that Yuri had. Perhaps one day, Flynn would get the opportunity to join Yuri on one of his adventures.

"It sounds like you've been having a lot of fun," Flynn said, chuckling.

"Yeah," Yuri said, nodding. "Between the jobs I do for Brave Vesperia and the adventures that Estelle drags me on so that she can get material for her books, I have a lot to do. Its really been fun."

Flynn nodded, smiling at Yuri. He was glad that Yuri had finally found his place in the world instead of hanging around the Lower Quarter causing trouble all the time. At times though, Flynn wondered if Yuri might one day leave him behind in favor of his more like-minded friends. But Yuri always came back to him no matter what, so Flynn's worries were always quickly dispelled. It was kind of reassuring in a way.

"You sound pretty busy," Flynn commented. "Thanks for making time to spend time with me today."

"Are you kidding?" Yuri asked, giving Flynn a playful punch in the shoulder. "I would never miss a chance to celebrate your birthday with you. You're still my oldest and closest friend. I'll always make time for you. Besides, you're more busy than I am. I'm surprised that you actually took the day off for once."

"Well you're the one who insisted that I had to do so. You were more insistent that usual this time."

It had been rather surprising actually. Flynn was used to being pestered by Yuri to take a day off, especially when it neared his birthday. He had expected Yuri's usual visits where he would say that he could think of to try to convince Flynn, ranging from from "the empire isn't going to collapse if you take one day off" to "you're going to take the day off if I have to tie you up and physically drag you outside, so you might as well make it easy for yourself". He hadn't been expecting Yuri to get both Estelle and Ioder to tag team him and all but command him to take a day off though. It was clear that Yuri was very intent on getting Flynn to spend his birthday with him.

"I had to. I really wanted you to take the day off," Yuri said, shrugging.

"I was planning to anyways you know."

Yuri seemed surprised by this at first, then he pretended to be annoyed. It wasn't very convincing though since Yuri had a huge grin on his face.

"You should've told me that before I took all that trouble to try to convince you."

"Sorry. I'll let you know next time."

For a moment, it appeared as if Yuri's grin faltered. It came back almost immediately though, so Flynn didn't think much of it.

They had walked up the stairs to the Public Quarter and Yuri immediately headed towards the marketplace. Flynn was wondering why Yuri had brought them here until he saw that Yuri was buying ingredients from the food stalls. Flynn watched in fascination as Yuri judged the quality of each ingredient that he purchased. Flynn didn't really understand what sort of criteria Yuri was using to judge the ingredients, but it was pretty interesting to watch him nevertheless. He tried to guess what Yuri might be cooking based on the ingredients, but he couldn't figure it out so eventually he gave up trying to do so.

Once Yuri was finished, they went back to the inn. Flynn sat down to wait while Yuri borrowed the kitchen to cook a quick lunch for them. After eating, the two friends decided to kill some time fighting monsters. Although it was not the sort of thing most people did to unwind, the two skilled swordsmen were easily able to take down the weak monsters in the area without any trouble. By the time they were done, the two of them hadn't even broken a sweat.

"You've improved a lot," Flynn commented.

Yuri turned and threw Flynn an amused look. Yuri seemed a little flattered that Flynn had complimented him, but it was clear that he didn't think that he had really improved all that much.

"I can't really say the same for you," Yuri teased. "You should get out of the castle and practice more or you'll get rusty."

"Ah... Sorry," Flynn replied, looking fairly embarrassed.

Yuri laughed at how embarrassed Flynn seemed, but it wasn't a derisive laugh. He still seemed genuinely amused.

"You don't have to apologize Flynn. I was kidding."

"But you're kind of right," Flynn pointed out, shaking his head and smiling sheepishly at Yuri. "I haven't been training properly recently. I just have too much work."

"Can't you delegate some of your work to someone else?

"I could but-"

"I'm serious Flynn," Yuri said, looking sternly at the blonde. "You work yourself too hard. If you don't slow down even a little bit, you're going to collapse or something. I know you think you have to do everything yourself, but you should trust your subordinates more."

"I do trust them."

"Really? Then why don't you let them do any work? They're gonna get lazy if you do it all yourself."

Flynn paused, thinking about this for a moment. It wasn't as if his knights slacked off all the time, Flynn did assign them work. However, he didn't order them to do nearly as much as they were capable of. Perhaps Yuri was right. The more he thought about it, the more Flynn could understand why everyone kept telling him to stop working so hard when he could easily pass on some of the work to his knights. Even the emperor Ioder had commented that he did more work than Alexei had done. Flynn always thought that the amount of work was normal if he wanted to change the way things were, but now the corruption in the empire was all but completely wiped out.

"I... guess you're right," Flynn admitted. "I'll try to start relying on other people more."

"So will you start taking breaks without me having to pester you for days?"

"Yeah, I will," Flynn replied, laughing. "I think it'd be nice to take some time off every so often and spend more time with you."

To Flynn's confusion, Yuri seemed to be slightly dismayed by his response. Didn't Yuri want to spend more time with him? Flynn pushed the thought out of his mind. No, he was sure that Yuri didn't mind spending time with him. After all, it was Yuri who had always taken time to come and visit him whenever he got the chance. Taking another look at Yuri, Flynn couldn't see any sign of the distress he had seen earlier. Perhaps he had just imagined it.

"Lets head back now," Yuri suggested. "I've planned an amazing dinner for tonight. Look forward to it."

Flynn grinned and followed Yuri as they walked back towards the inn. Yuri led the way back up to his room where Repede was waiting for them. Repede barked in greeting and bounded over to Flynn, his tail wagging excitedly. Flynn knelt down to pet Repede as Yuri walked past him into the room and began to set the small table in the center of the room. Flynn hadn't remembered seeing it there before, and wondered absently if Yuri had carried it up there so that they could have dinner together in private. Something about the thought of Yuri going through so much trouble for him made Flynn smile.

"What's so funny?" Yuri asked, tilting his head to one side and looking at Flynn in bewilderment.

"Its nothing," Flynn said, shaking his head. "I was just thinking about how much fun I had today."

"Oh really? Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Yuri said, grinning. "Wait here a minute while I get the food ready. Repede will keep you company in the meantime."

Yuri waved before heading downstairs Flynn took a seat at the table to wait and Repede curled up beside his chair. Flynn looked around the room, which was a little neater than it used to be when Yuri spent most of his time in Zaphias, but still looked distinctly like a room that Yuri stayed in. Flynn resisted the urge to straighten up the room a little, knowing that Yuri would tease him for being a neat freak if he did that. Instead, he turned his attention to Repede.

"Thanks for looking after Yuri for me," Flynn said, scratching behind Repede's ears.

Repede barked in response, looking up at Flynn with his one good eye.

Flynn smiled and continued to pet Repede until Yuri returned carrying a tray laden with delicious smelling food, which he set down on the table. Repede yawned and got to his feet, walking towards the door and glancing over his shoulder before leaving the room and kicking the door shut behind him. Yuri chuckled and took the seat across from Flynn's.

"Looks like Repede's got other plans," Yuri remarked.

"Mm... Well, I suppose that's fine," Flynn said.

Flynn turned his attention to the food, and he placed a generous portion of each dish Yuri had prepared onto his plate. Lunch had been delicious, but Yuri had really gone all out in preparing dinner. All of Flynn's favorite foods were there, and Flynn was a little awestruck by the amount of work that Yuri must have done to make such an elaborate meal. Flynn took a bite and closed his eyes as he savored the flavor of the dish. Flynn had been told that his sense of taste was off, and perhaps that was true since other people were rarely very eager to eat his cooking, but Flynn could certainly tell when food was good, even if he was not much of a cook himself.

"Yuri, this is delicious," Flynn said, causing Yuri to grin and look quite pleased with himself.

"Of course it is," Yuri said. "My cooking is always great."

"You really didn't have to go through all this trouble though. It must have been a lot of work."

Yuri shook his head in response.

"It was no trouble at all. I was happy to cook for you. Especially since its your birthday today."

They continued eating in relative silence, Flynn enjoying the peaceful atmosphere that had settled between them. Every so often, Flynn would notice that Yuri was looking at him strangely. Whenever he did though, Yuri would turn his attention back to eating and if it hadn't happened multiple times then Flynn would have been certain that he was imagining things. Once Flynn had finished eating, he placed his fork down and leaned back in his chair to wait for Yuri to finish. When Yuri looked up at him and quickly looked away, Flynn decided that he should say something.

"Is something the matter Yuri?"

Yuri jumped slightly, startled by the question. He quickly regained his composure, but there was still something about Yuri's demeanor that seemed troubled.

"I'm fine Flynn, really," Yuri insisted.

"Are you sure?"

Yuri hesitated a moment, seeming to seriously consider this question. Flynn became worried at this, but soon relaxed once Yuri gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure," Yuri replied. "I was just thinking about how much I've enjoyed my time together with you."

"You make it sound like you're going away somewhere," Flynn said, chuckling.

Yuri looked out the window, a slightly wistful smile crossing his face as he watched the sun dip below the horizon and the sky fade to a dark blue.

"I suppose it does sound that way," Yuri said quietly. "Its not as if I want to go anywhere though..."

"Yuri? Are you sure that you're alright?"

Flynn frowned in concern as Yuri continued to stare out the window a moment before looking back at Flynn. Yuri smiled faintly, resting his chin against his hand.

"Yeah. I already said that I was fine," Yuri replied. "I've just been thinking a lot today."

"Really? That's unusual for you," Flynn teased.

"Hey!" Yuri exclaimed, swatting at Flynn's arm and frowning. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Flynn chuckled and Yuri was unable to suppress a grin himself. Flynn was glad that his attempt to lighten the mood a bit had worked. Yuri seemed to have forgotten about whatever it was that was troubling him and had returned to his usual carefree self.

"Shall we go for a walk?" Yuri asked. "Its not too dark yet."

Flynn nodded and got up, helping Yuri clean up the dishes and bring them downstairs to the kitchen. Yuri had halfheartedly insisted that Flynn let him do it himself, but Flynn knew that Yuri hated to clean up so he decided to help out anyways. Once they had finished cleaning up, they began to take a walk around outside. They didn't go very far, staying nearby the fountain in the Lower Quarter. The streets soon became deserted and they were alone, walking side by side in the moonlight. After a while, Yuri walked over to the fountain and sat down. Flynn did the same and took a seat beside Yuri.

"Its a beautiful night out tonight," Flynn remarked.

Yuri looked up at the sky, frowning slightly as if trying to understand what Flynn found so beautiful about it. Flynn looked curiously at Yuri, who glanced over at Flynn and smiled.

"I suppose it is in a way," Yuri replied. "But it doesn't seem any different from any other night."

"No... There's something about tonight that makes it seem special."

"Really?" Yuri asked, looking amused. "Maybe its because you're actually outside for once."

Flynn chuckled and turned his gaze upwards towards the sky, admiring the bright full moon and the beautiful twinkling stars.

"You may be right Yuri."

The two friends sat in silence for a moment. A gentle breeze caressed Flynn's skin, causing him to let out a contented sigh. The moonlight lit up the square and reflected off the surface of the fountain. Yuri had begun looking up at the sky once more, smiling wistfully.

"Hey Flynn."

"Mm? What is it?" Flynn asked, turning to look at Yuri.

"Do you remember how we first met?"

Flynn considered the question for a moment, then nodded. He smiled fondly at Yuri as he recalled the events of that fateful day.

"It was here by this fountain right?" Flynn asked.

Yuri nodded, turning to look at Flynn. He was grinning, obviously happy that Flynn had remembered their first meeting. Of course, there was no way that Flynn could ever have forgotten it.

"Yeah," Yuri replied. "You were sitting beside this fountain and I came over to sit next to you since you looked lonely sitting there all by yourself."

"And you looked like you had just been in a fight," Flynn replied. "I was worried because you were injured, but you didn't seem to care at all. You had a huge grin on your face."

"That's because I won that fight. It wasn't so uncommon for me to get injured, so I wasn't worried about that at all."

"You were more worried about me than you were about yourself. I didn't understand that at all at the time. I wasn't the one who was injured. Now though... I think I understand how you felt a little better."

"There's nothing worse than being alone," Yuri said quietly, reaching out and taking Flynn's hand in his. "But now you have Estelle, Ioder, and all of the knights. You've got a lot of people supporting you."

"And you," Flynn said, squeezing Yuri's hand. "I have you."

Yuri smiled sadly at Flynn and pulled his hand away. Flynn frowned slightly in confusion and began to question Yuri's actions, but the words he had wanted to say died on his lips as he was suddenly pulled into a tight embrace. Flynn gasped in surprise at the sudden gesture. It had been a long time since Yuri would so willingly display any sign of affection. When they were kids, it was different. Yuri would always hold hands with Flynn and give him hugs whenever he was feeling down.

It had been so simple back then. They could be as close as they wanted to be and no one would say anything about it. Once one became older though, such gestures took on a different meaning completely. Their relationship was no longer the same as it had been when they were kids. Sometimes, Flynn found himself wishing that he could go back to those days...

"You've always had me Flynn," Yuri replied, resting his chin on Flynn's shoulder. "And you always will. Even if it doesn't seem like it."

"Y-Yuri?" Flynn asked, tentatively returning the embrace. "What are you saying?"

The was a pause, and then Yuri pulled back, smirking again. The familiar expression was comforting to Flynn, who was still bewildered by Yuri's uncharacteristic actions.

"I'm saying that you'll never be rid of me," Yuri replied. "Even when I'm not by your side, you'll always have my support. So if I disappear, I want you to remember that."

Flynn began to protest that Yuri wouldn't disappear, but stopped when Yuri placed a finger against his lips. Flynn could have sworn that the gentle touch sent a spark or electricity through him. Was this the sensation that Estellise had always talked about when she wrote her love stories? Flynn stared at Yuri with wide eyes as his friend leaned in a little closer.

"Close your eyes," Yuri whispered, his expression holding a genuine warmth in it that Flynn had never seen before.

Reassured that Yuri was serious for once, and not trying to pull some sort of prank on him, Flynn did as he was asked. Yuri smiled upon seeing the faint blush on Flynn's cheeks, and leaned forward so that their lips were mere centimeters apart from each other's. When Yuri spoke, his breath ghosted across Flynn's lips and cause Flynn's own breath to become caught in his throat. Yuri reached up to cup Flynn's face in his hands, and gently stroked Flynn's cheeks with his thumbs.

"Its been fun Flynn," Yuri said softly, pressing his forehead against Flynn's. "I'm glad that I was able to meet you. Thank you for everything. Please never change Flynn... Goodbye."

After Yuri finished speaking, his touch seemed to fade away. Confused by this, Flynn opened his eyes to see... nothing. Yuri was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Exposition is certainly not my forte I have to say. But I'm having a lot of fun writing this (although someone I really admire favorited this story, so I'm kinda terrified as well since I really want her to like it, ha ha). A big thank you to A Tale Of Brothers, yaoiprincess101, and AkatsukiSailors for taking the time to review this, as well as those of you who have favorited/followed this story. Your support is really encouraging to me. I still couldn't get my friends to beta this story, but I suppose that is a good thing because I just realized that the story hints at a lot of things that might be spoilers to them (we just made it to the Weasand of Cados a few days ago, so they've still got a ways to go in the game). I'm no good at self editing, so apologies in advance for whatever mistakes I missed while editing this. Well, without further ado, here is the next chapter.

**[***]**

**Chapter 2 - A Lost Friend**

Flynn jumped to his feet and looked around wildly. Where had Yuri gone? How did he just... disappear? Flynn was pretty sure that people couldn't do stuff like that. Was this some sort of trick? As far as he knew, no one had developed a magic spell to turn invisible or teleport or anything like that. Flynn was utterly confused and distressed by the situation. People couldn't just disappear like that. Surely Yuri had to be somewhere nearby. Flynn searched around the fountain, but there were no traces of Yuri to be found.

Just as he was about to give up, Flynn spotted a single, white feather. There was something about that feather that seemed to draw Flynn to it. He picked it up carefully, holding it up to examine it. The moonlight reflected off of it and the feather seemed to glow faintly. Although he wasn't sure why, somehow looking at the feather caused him to feel an overwhelming sense of loss. Or perhaps he simply felt like this anyways because it was the only thing left in Yuri's place after he disappeared.

There was some sort of aura around the feather that Flynn could not describe. This lone feather was somehow more beautiful than any other feather that Flynn had ever seen. Even the most elaborate, colorful feathers were nothing compared to this pure white feather. Flynn continued to stare at it for a moment longer before placing the feather into his pocket.

Flynn wondered if it was possible that the feather had something to do with Yuri's disappearance. It was Flynn's only clue to what had happened, but how could a feather be related to what had happened? Even so, he was so frantic that he would accept anything at this point. Perhaps a giant bird had flown down and carried Yuri off. Flynn shook his head at the thought. No, Yuri would have cried out to him if that was the case. There was no other explanation that Flynn could think of other than that Yuri had just sprouted wings and flown away, but there was no way that was the case. The feather probably had nothing to do with it at all.

Knowing that he was too tired to think clearly about how to find Yuri with a feather as his only clue, Flynn decided to head to bed. It wouldn't be effective at all for him to search blindly, and his best bet would be to try to get some sleep and figure everything out in the morning. Flynn began to walk towards the castle, then changed his mind and headed to Yuri's room in the inn instead. He slipped into Yuri's room silently and shut the door behind him.

Flynn looked around the room, half expecting to find Yuri sitting on the bed, smirking and telling Flynn that it was all just an elaborate prank and that Flynn shouldn't take things too seriously. However, Yuri was nowhere to be seen and the room was exactly as they had left it. He supposed that was to be expected. Even though Flynn had known that Yuri wouldn't be there, he felt his heart sink as he looked around the empty room.

Sighing and inwardly cursing his own misguided optimism, Flynn collapsed onto the bed. It creaked and groaned under his weight, but Flynn didn't mind. Laying in Yuri's bed made him feel close to Yuri, even if it was only a little bit. Rolling onto his stomach, Flynn buried his face into Yuri's pillow and slowly fell asleep.

_Flynn __sat __beside __Yuri __on __the __edge __of __the __fountain__. __Yuri __smiled __brightly __at __him__, __and __Flynn __returned __the __smile__. __Their __hands __were __intertwined __and __Flynn __raised __Yuri__'__s __hand __to __his __lips __and __kissed __the __back __of __it __gently__. __Yuri __chuckled __and __shifted __closer__, __wrapping __his __arms __around __Flynn__'__s __waist__. __Flynn __took __a __moment __to __admire __Yuri__, __the __way __the __sunlight __reflected __off __of __his __long __black __hair __and __the __way __his __eyes __seemed __to __sparkle __when __he __smiled__. __Flynn __couldn__'__t __help __but __be __slightly __awed __by __how __beautiful __Yuri __was__. __Flynn __reached __up __to __tuck __a __stray __strand __of __Yuri__'__s __hair __behind __his __ear__, __slowly __leaning __forward__. __Yuri __smiled __encouragingly __at __Flynn__, __who __finally __gave __into __temptation __and __brought __their __lips __together__._

_Yuri__'__s __lips __felt __soft __against __Flynn__'__s __and __the __kiss __took __Flynn__'__s __breath __away__. __His __eyes __slid __closed __and __Flynn __could __feel __his __heart __pounding __with __excitement __in __his __chest__. __Yuri __parted __his __lips __invitingly __and __Flynn __took __the __invitation __to __deepen __the __kiss__, __sliding __his __tongue __between __Yuri__'__s __lips __and __kissing __his __childhood __friend __with __as __much __passion __as __he __could __muster__. __As __they __kissed__, __Flynn __was __reminded __of __all __the __times __he __had __admired __Yuri__. He recalled a__ll __those __times __that __he __had __wished __that __he __could __be __closer __to __Yuri__; __to __be __more __than __mere __friends __or __rivals__. __Flynn __had __never __understood __why __he __felt __the __way __he __did__, __but __the __truth __was __beginning __to __dawn __on __him__. __Could __it __be__... __that __he __was __in __love __with __Yuri__?_

_He __opened __his __eyes __only __to __see __Yuri __suddenly __transform __into __a __flock __of __birds__. __Flynn __stared __in __horror __as __the __birds __flew __up __into __the __air __and __disappeared__. __He __got __to __his __feet __and __was __suddenly __surrounded __by __all __of __Yuri__'__s __friends__._

"_Wow __Flynn__!" __cried __Karol__. "__That __was __really __great__!"_

"_Even __I __don__'__t __know __how __to __do __magic __like __that__," __Rita __remarked__._

"_You __should __become __a __magician __Flynn__," __Judith __replied__._

"_It __was __really __amazing __how __you __turned __Yuri __into __a __flock __of __birds__!" __Estellise __praised __him__. "__Judith __is __right__! __You __should __definitely __become __a __magician__."_

_Flynn __gaped __at __them__, __utterly __shocked __at __how __they __could __all __be __so __calm __about __what __had __just __happened__. __Did __they __really __not __care __that __Yuri __had __been __turned __into __a __flock __of __birds__?_

"_What __are __you __so __happy __about__?" __Flynn __cried__. "__Yuri__'__s __gone__! __I __have __to __go __find __him__!"_

"_Come __on __Flynn__. __Your __fans __await__," __Raven __said__, __grabbing __Flynn__'__s __arm __and __dragging __him __away __towards __a __crowd __of __unfamiliar __people__._

"_No__!" __Flynn __cried__, __trying __to __struggle __out __of __Raven__'__s __grasp__. "__Stop __it__! __I__'__m __not __a __magician__! __I __want __to __go __search __for __Yuri__!"_

"_You __can__'__t __do __that __Flynn__," __Estellise __said __sternly__. "__You __have __to __perform __more __magic __for __your __fans__!"_

_Flynn __continued __to __struggle __as __he __was __pulled __toward __the __crowd__. __In __the __distance__, __he __spotted __a __single__, __white __bird __sitting __on __the __edge __of __the __fountain__, __watching __Flynn __intently__._

"_Yuri__!" __Flynn __screamed__, __reaching __out __towards __the __bird__. "__Yuri __don__'__t __leave __me__!"_

_Raven __managed __to __drag __Flynn __into __the __crowd __of __people__, __and __he __felt __himself __pulled __deeper __and __deeper __into __the __excited __crowd__. __He __struggled __desperately __to __try __to __escape__, __but __it __was __becoming __more __and __more __futile __to __try __to __do __so__. __Flynn __kept __calling __out __Yuri__'__s __name__, __but __his __voice __was __soon __washed __out __among __the __crowd__'__s __enthusiastic __pleas __for __him __to __perform __some __more __magic__. __No __longer __able __to __distinguish __Flynn __amongst __the __crowd__, __the __white __bird __spread __its __wings __and __flew __away__._

"Yuri!"

Flynn sat up in the bed quickly, panting heavily and feeling as if he had just been suffocated. The blankets were completely twisted around his legs and Flynn struggled to kick them off and free himself. He heard a whine, and looked down to see Repede by the side of the bed. Once Repede had Flynn's attention, he bent down to look at something on the floor. Flynn followed Repede's gaze and spotted the white feather that he had found earlier. Flynn reached down and picked it up, realizing that it must have fallen out of his pocket. He smiled faintly at it, then looked over at Repede once more.

"Its alright Repede. Its just a feather."

Repede snorted in annoyance at that, and Flynn wondered if there was something that Repede had been trying to tell him by pointing out the feather. Repede did seem to have a particularly good sense for figuring out things after all.

"I found it earlier by the fountain. Yuri disappeared and this was only thing that was left in his place. Do you think that its a clue to what happened to him?"

Repede barked encouragingly, and Flynn felt slightly relieved. If Repede thought so as well, then perhaps the feather really was a clue after all.

"In the morning, lets start to search for Yuri," Flynn said, gently petting Repede before laying back down in the bed. "In the meantime, lets get some sleep. I can't say that the sleep I got was particularly restful. I had a really bizarre dream."

Repede whined sympathetically and Flynn smiled at him before rolling over to try to fall back asleep. He clutched the feather tightly to his chest, it's presence beside him not seeming much more reassuring than it had felt earlier. Flynn fell asleep once more, this time sleeping peacefully until morning.

In the morning, Flynn woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door. He looked down at Repede, who opened his good eye and yawned before closing it again and going back to sleep. Flynn, smiled, knowing that whoever was at the door must be someone who Repede recognized. Flynn got to his feet, doing his best to straighten out his appearance. The knocking became more insistent as Flynn hurried over to the door. He opened it to find Karol and Judith.

"Yuri! Raven said that he- Oh! Hello Flynn," Karol exclaimed, looking surprised that it was Flynn rather than Yuri who had answered the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah... I was spending the day with Yuri yesterday and-"

"One thing led to another and you ended up spending the night?" Karol asked, smirking slightly.

Flynn blushed, shocked by Karol's insinuation. Judith chuckled and shook her head, obviously having expected Karol to say that.

"Yuri's really rubbed off on you, hasn't he Karol?" Judith asked.

Karol grinned sheepishly at Judith, and Flynn looked from one to the other, completely dumbfounded. Judith had not changed much since he had last seen her. On the other hand, Karol had grown up considerably since the last time they had met. It was hard to believe that Karol had turned 16 already. To Flynn it seemed like only yesterday that Karol was a young, innocent boy of 12. Then again, it wasn't as if Flynn really saw Karol all that much.

"Speaking of Yuri, where is he?" Karol asked, trying to peer around Flynn to see into the room.

"He's..." Flynn started, unsure of how to begin explaining what had happened.

He looked at his feet and Karol looked curiously at him. Judith seemed to notice his distress and frowned slightly. She seemed to sense that Flynn's discomfort had arisen because Yuri was gone.

"He's not here is he?" she asked.

Flynn nodded silently, continuing to look down at his feet. He wasn't sure what else to say. If he explained what had happened they would probably either think that he was crazy or that he was making up some sort of excuse to keep them from finding out what really happened. Truthfully, Flynn knew that the two guild members were probably more understanding than he gave them credit for. However, he was a little reluctant to see their reaction.

"Did you guys have a fight or something?" Karol asked.

"No! Of course not!" Flynn exclaimed, finally looking up at Karol with an indignant expression on his face. "Yesterday we got along perfectly! Its just..."

He trailed off, averting their gaze once more. Although he didn't want Karol to think that he'd been fighting with Yuri again, he wasn't sure that he could offer a suitable explanation for what had happened.

"Its just what?" Karol asked.

"Its just that... Yuri has disappeared..." Flynn admitted finally.

"What?! Yuri's disappeared?" Karol cried.

Karol looked completely shocked, and even Judith looked a little surprised. The two guild members looked at each other, and it seemed to Flynn as if there was some sort of silent communication between the two of them. Karol turned to Flynn, grinning and clasping him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry Flynn! We'll find him!" Karol reassured him.

"Thats right," Judith said, nodding in agreement. "Wherever he went, we'll find him and bring him back to you. Then you have our permission to beat him up for running off on you."

Flynn relaxed upon hearing Karol and Judith's encouragement. However, even though Flynn trusted them, if Yuri had left willingly then he must have had some sort reason for doing so. Flynn was beginning to believe that he himself was part of that reason. Flynn wondered if Yuri had left because he had never really taken much time off to visit him. Was Yuri trying to teach Flynn a lesson by disappearing? Flynn had no idea why Yuri would do such a thing, but he did know that he would have to look for Yuri himself if he wanted to truly understand what had happened and why Yuri had disappeared. He couldn't just wait for other people to find Yuri for him.

"I wish to accompany you as well," Flynn said.

Karol looked surprised, but Judith smiled at him encouragingly. Flynn could tell from her expression that she understood what his motives were for wanting to go with them, possibly even more so than he understood himself.

"Thats fine by me," Judith said. "As long as you can get time off to join our search."

"I'm sure I can," Flynn replied.

"Well the more help the better!" Karol said, grinning. "You should go tell the emperor where you're going. In the meantime, we'll ask Raven and see if he has any ideas for where we should start looking. Lets meet at the gate in the Public Quarter in about an hour to begin our search."

"Alright," Flynn said, nodding.

Repede walked up from behind Flynn, barking to show that he wanted to help.

"You'll help too Repede?" Karol asked. "Thanks."

Repede barked in response and followed as Karol and Judith walked off. Flynn watched them go, turning to the room and looking around it one last time. He spotted the feather he had found earlier laying on the bed, and walked over to pick it up and place it in his pocket again. If by some chance it would come in useful, Flynn wanted to have it with him.

Flynn walked up to the castle, heading to his room to change into some fresh clothing. Once he looked presentable, he headed up to Ioder's office. He knocked on the door and waited for Ioder to tell him to come in before entering. He bowed slightly out of respect before stepping forward.

"Good morning Emperor Ioder," Flynn greeted.

"Good morning Flynn," Ioder said, smiling in greeting. "How was your birthday?"

Flynn hesitated a moment before responding, unsure of how Ioder would react upon hearing that Yuri had disappeared and that Flynn wished to take time away from his work to search for him. Knowing Ioder though, he would probably encourage Flynn. The two blondes had always been fairly good friends, although for the sake of appearances their interactions for the most part were strictly professional.

"Actually, that is what I wished to speak with you about..." Flynn replied.

"Oh? Did you want to ask for another day off?"

Flynn smiled a little sheepishly at Ioder, and the young emperor chuckled, realizing that he had correctly guessed Flynn's reason for coming to his office.

"As a matter of fact, I have," Flynn admitted. "If that is alright with you."

"Of course its alright. You have been working so diligently for all these years, I do not mind if you wish to take a little time off. Is there any particular reason that you decided to take a vacation at this time?"

"Its because Yuri has disappeared."

Ioder looked surprised to hear this, which was understandable. Flynn himself really didn't understand what had happened, even though he had been there when Yuri disappeared. But there was no way that Yuri had disappeared completely off the face of the earth. He had to be somewhere.

"I see," Ioder said, nodding solemnly. "So I presume that the reason that you wish to take a vacation is to go search for him."

"Yes, thats right," Flynn said. "If I might be permitted a few days to search for him, it would be much appreciated."

Ioder chuckled and waved a hand dismissively.

"Its not a problem at all," Ioder said. "Please take as much time as you need. There are no issues that require will your immediate attention, and I am confident that you will find him and return soon."

"Is it really alright?" Flynn asked, surprised at how easy it had been to convince Ioder to grant him some time off.

"Yes," Ioder said, laughing. "You should not worry about it too much Flynn. We will be able to take care of things while you are gone."

"Thank you," Flynn said, bowing and turning to exit.

"Oh Flynn!"

Flynn turned around, looking curiously at Ioder. Ioder smiled reassuringly at him.

"Good luck with your search."

Flynn returned Ioder's smile and left the room. He walked down the hallway, wondering if he was the only one who thought that the Commandant's job should be so much work. Perhaps people were right to tell him to take a break now and then. After all, he was only one man, and there was only so much that he could accomplish on his own.

As Flynn reached the end of the hallway and passed through the courtyard, he spotted Estellise and Rita sitting on a bench and chatting with each other. Estellise was the first to notice him and quickly got to her feet. Rita threw him an annoyed look, but the young woman said nothing as Estellise hurried over to him.

"Flynn!" Estellise cried. "I've been waiting to ask you! How was your day with Yuri?"

"Well, it was fine but..." Flynn said, looking away nervously. "Yuri disappeared suddenly."

"What?! Really?" Estellise exclaimed, completely shocked. "What happened?"

"I don't really know myself," Flynn said, shaking his head. He was getting a little tired of having to explain what happened so often. Especially since he kept having to admit that he had no idea what had happened. "That's why I'm going to search for him."

Estellise seemed fairly distressed to hear that Yuri had disappeared, but when Flynn told her that he would search for Yuri, she brightened up considerably.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked. "I could help you search if you'd like."

"I couldn't ask you to do that," Flynn said, shaking his head.

Estellise pouted and put her hands on her hips. It was clear from the determination in her expression that she would be helping out, whether Flynn wanted her to or not.

"You'd better let her help Flynn," Rita said, looking amused. "She's got that look in her eye, and you know how she is once she makes up her mind like this. Anyways, I myself owe Yuri a smack in the head for taking off without letting anyone know."

"You mean that you'll need help too Rita?" Estellise asked, turning to face Rita.

Rita shrugged noncommittally, and Estellise grinned at her. After knowing Rita for so long, both Flynn and Estellise knew that this was Rita's way of showing that she was concerned about Yuri.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Rita asked, glaring at them.

"I'm just happy that you want to help," Estellise replied, causing Rita to become flustered. Estellise turned to face Flynn. "It's decided then. Rita and I will help you out."

Flynn chuckled, deciding to give in to Estellise's insistence. After all, it wasn't as if he was going to search for Yuri alone to begin with. Besides, their insight might prove to be useful in finding Yuri.

"Thank you," Flynn said, bowing his head slightly. "I appreciate it. Actually, I was just going to meet with Karol and the others at the gate now."

"Well then, lets go," Rita said, getting to her feet.

Flynn led the way out the castle and through the Noble Quarter. They walked through the Public Quarter and headed towards the gate where Karol, Judith, Repede, and Raven were all waiting for them. Karol waved excitedly to them when they came closer.

"Hey guys!" he greeted. "Are Estelle and Rita coming too?"

"Yes. We want to help find Yuri too," Estellise said, nodding.

"Did Raven have any ideas of where to look?" Flynn asked.

Raven looked up at the sky, folding his arms behind his head.

"Well, I figure that we could look at the places where Yuri usually hangs around," Raven said. "Although its not as if he coulda gone far."

"Eh? You don't have any better ideas than that?" Karol asked, looking fairly disappointed.

"Well I don't really know what happened," Raven said, shrugging. "Maybe if the Commandant can tell us more about what happened, I'd be able ta come up with something better."

Everyone turned to look expectantly at Flynn, waiting for him to explain more about the situation. Flynn took a deep breath, hoping that his story wouldn't sound as crazy as he thought it did. It was seriously getting repetitive and irritating to have to keep explaining an event that he would have much rather forgotten about, but he would do it as many times as he needed to if it would help him find Yuri.

"We were sitting side by side on the fountain in the Lower Quarter," Flynn said. "He was talking to me and I closed my eyes for a moment. He began to talk about how glad he was that he had met me and then said goodbye. When I opened my eyes he was gone, and there was no traces of him left behind at all."

"None at all?" Estellise asked, staring eide eyed at Flynn.

"Well... I suppose there was a feather left behind, but I don't really know how it could be related," Flynn said. "Repede seems to think that its related though."

Repede barked in agreement.

"Can I see it?" Estellise asked.

Flynn nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the feather. The others seemed as awestruck by it as Flynn had been. Estellise took it carefully from him and examined it. Judith looked on from the background, seeming to be deep in thought about something.

"This is beautiful," Estellise said. "Its just a simple white feather but... it seems so pure."

"It doesn't look like any kind of feather I've seen before," Rita remarked, looking skeptically. She turned to face Karol. "Well Mr. monster expert? What sort of monster does it belong to?"

Karol took a closer look at the feather in Estellise's hands, then shook his head.

"I don't recognize it either. I've seen plenty of monster feathers that were white, but never one quite that big."

"Its like a feather from the wings of an angel," Estellise said, continuing to admire the feather in her hands.

"You _would_say something like that, wouldn't you" Rita asked, smirking slightly. "You really do love those fairy tale books don't you?"

The group chuckled amongst themselves, knowing how much Estellise loved to talk about fairy tales. Judith, on the other hand, did not seem to find Estellise's suggestion to be something amusing. She looked up at the sky, her brows slightly furrowed in concentration.

"Actually, that might not be too far off the mark."

Everyone turned to look in surprise at Judith upon hearing her comment. Judith looked back down at them and smiled mysteriously. As usual, her expression seemed to indicate that she knew a lot more about the situation than she had been letting on.

"Are you serious?" Rita asked, looking at Judith as if she had grown a second head.

Judith nodded in response.

"We Krytians have many stories about angels. When we moved our city to the sky, we started to come into contact with them more frequently. It seems that they were impressed that we forsook the use of blastia long before anyone else. For the most part. Krytians and angels are on fairly good terms with each other, so we know more about them than humans do."

"Have you ever met an angel Judy?" Karol asked.

"Yes, I have."

Everyone was taken aback by Judith's matter-of-fact response. Although angels appeared fairly often in literature, not many people actually believed that they existed. Flynn stared at Judith, surprised at how nonchalant she was about saying such a thing. It didn't seem as if she was joking though. Flynn wondered if Yuri had been taken away by an angel. It was hard to believe such a thing, but then again the situation itself was pretty hard to believe, so Flynn decided that he may as well just accept that Judith was telling the truth.

"So ya think that angels have something to do with it Judith darlin'?" Raven asked.

"I do," Judith said, nodding. "Perhaps if we go the the realm of the angels, we'll be able to figure out what happened to Yuri."

"Is it really that easy to get there though?" Karol asked.

"I have an old book that the elder gave to me the last time I visited Myorzo," Judith said. "It talks about angels in it, and I think it has directions of how to get there."

"Wow! Thats great!" Karol exclaimed. "Lets go then!"

Karol ran out the gate towards the field. Estellise handed the feather back to Flynn and hurried after him, followed by Rita.

"Looks like the kid is as enthusiastic as ever," Raven said, chuckling to himself.

"Estelle and Rita seem pretty determined to find Yuri too," Judith said.

"I'm a bit curious about what happened myself," Raven said, following after the others.

Flynn began to follow after them, stopping when Judith placed a hand on his shoulder. He glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Don't worry Flynn," Judith said. "We'll find him."

Repede barked in agreement and Flynn smiled at them.

"Thank you both," Flynn said. "You don't have to worry about me though. I know that we'll be able to find him, and when we do I'll be sure to get a proper explanation out of him."

"I'll make sure that he apologizes to you too," Judith said, chuckling to herself as she walked past Flynn and headed off in the direction that the others had gone.

Flynn smiled to himself and followed her, Repede trotting along beside him. Flynn clutched the feather tightly, its presence reassuring him once more. It was still a little hard to grasp the idea that angels were somehow involved in Yuri's disappearance. However, he now knew where to begin his search for Yuri, and Flynn was confident that he would really be able to find Yuri soon. For once, it was Flynn who was the one trying to catch up with Yuri, and he was determined that he would succeed in doing so.

"Wait for me Yuri..." Flynn whispered, looking up at the sky as Ba'ul flew down towards them.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** So first off, thank you to the people who reviewed; A Tale of Brothers, Sonnenfrost, and RuneNeko. Your criticism was really helpful, and I hope I was able to improve some things in this chapter. Also, thanks to the people who favorited/followed this story. Hopefully I'm improving my writing as I go along.

I was having a lot of Ristelle feels when writing this chapter. If you look, you can see how they manifested themselves. Probably. Once again, sorry for any mistakes that I make and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**[***]**

**Chapter 3 - Sailing in The Sky**

Flynn leaned against the railing of the Fiertia, watching the scenery flash by beneath them. He wasn't sure how long they had been flying, but it must have been a long time since the sun had begun to set. Time seemed to go by fairly quickly as they flew over the world, and they were slowly climbing higher and higher into the sky. It was beginning to become fairly cold, but unlike the others, Flynn had not retreated into the warm cabin. He was too restless to be very good company, so he decided to stay where he was. He could hear faint laughter issuing from inside the cabin, and he smiled slightly. At least the others didn't seem very worried. Flynn himself, however, was fairly anxious.

Feeling someone tap him on the shoulder and spun around in surprise to discovered that Judith had been standing behind him. He hadn't even heard her walk up behind him. It was a little scary, in a way, how quietly Judith was able to move. Was she a ninja or something?

"Oh! Hello Judith," Flynn greeted.

"You've been out here quite a while," Judith remarked. "Are you still worried?"

"A bit," Flynn admitted. "I can't help but worry about him."

"That's understandable. You've been friends for quite a while haven't you?"

Flynn nodded, looking up at the full moon and leaning against the railing once more.

"We've been friends since we were children. I can't imagine life without him any more."

Judith nodded solemnly in response, leaning against the railing beside Flynn.

"You never realize how important a person is to you until they're gone," Judith murmured.

Flynn turned to look at her, surprised by her far off expression. It was clear that she was remembering someone from a long time ago. But before he could inquire about what she was referring to, Judith turned away from the railing and headed back towards the cabin.

"Make sure you rest properly Flynn," Judith said, pausing just outside the cabin door.

"Ah... I will. Thank you Judith," Flynn replied. "Good night."

Judith gave a nod in return before disappearing inside. Flynn turned back to look out at the world below him. He imagined Yuri flying over the exact same scenery, his black hair blowing in the wind. Would he be surveying the land with his usual carefree expression? Or would he be looking out ahead, preparing himself for the challenges he would face and the obstacles he would encounter during his adventures? Thinking of Yuri caused Flynn to feel a twisting pain in his chest. He longed to be by Yuri's side once more. Nothing Flynn could imagine about his raven haired friend could ever compare to the way it felt to actually be in Yuri's presence. His warmth and vitality was unrivaled by anyone else that Flynn knew.

What was it that Yuri had said the night that he disappeared? That Flynn would always have him, even when it didn't seem like it? Yuri had known that he would disappear. It was too soon for Flynn to let go of Yuri. Then again, would he ever be able to let go of him? Flynn had made many friends among the knights, but none of them had ever been able to compare to Yuri. Without his best friend, Flynn felt that he was missing something vitally important to him. Something that could never be replaced, even if he searched the world a hundred times over. There would only ever be one Yuri Lowell.

Yuri had been impossibly stubborn as a child. In fact, that trait had carried over even into adulthood. Flynn was the same way. Neither one would ever give in whenever they had an argument, not even a little bit. No matter how many times he might complain about it though, Flynn didn't really resent Yuri for it. Even if some of his actions were so selfless that he ended up with a bad reputation, Yuri would always fight for what was right. Flynn really admired that, but he also hated that part of him. He hated that Yuri was always putting himself in harms way, always giving Flynn credit for things that were entirely his own doing. But Yuri would never change, and it was this unwavering resolve to protect others at his own expense that had inspired Flynn. With Yuri's support, Flynn had been able to change the world the way they had always dreamed of doing as children.

Flynn gazed down as the Fiertia flew over the ocean. For a moment, he felt as if he were falling towards it, the edges of his vision darkening to black. He shook his head vigorously, trying to regain his senses and stop his head from reeling. He hadn't slept at all since they had taken off the day before, and the lack of sleep was beginning to get to him. Not particularly fond of the idea of falling into the ocean because he passed out from exhaustion, Flynn decided that he should get some rest. Standing out on the deck wasn't making the journey go any faster after all.

As he stepped inside the cabin, Flynn realized for the first time just how cold it had been outside. He hadn't noticed the cold when he was outside, but the inside of the cabin was pleasantly warm in comparison to the frigid night air. Flynn descended the stairs leading below deck, finding that everyone appeared to have gone to sleep already. He found an empty bed, the sheets rumpled and the blanket hanging halfway off the bed. Flynn smiled, immediately recognizing it as the bed which Yuri slept on when on his travels with Brave Vesperia. Flynn kicked off his shoes, climbing onto the bed and pulling the blanket over himself. He had nearly drifted asleep when he felt the mattress dip under the weight of something that had climbed onto the bed. Flynn opened his eyes just as Repede lay down beside him. Having the dog sleep next to him was not all that unpleasant. In fact, Flynn found it surprisingly comfortable and allowed himself to lean up against Repede a little as he closed his eyes once more.

The next morning, Flynn woke up to the smell of something sweet. His first thought was that Yuri was cooking breakfast, but he soon dismissed that thought. Flynn sat up, yawning and looking down at Repede. He smiled, scratching behind Repede's ears a bit before getting to his feet. He wasn't sure if he'd ever really be able to get used to the idea of being on a flying ship, but at least he had gotten used to the slight swaying motion of the floor. It was a little different, but it was still fairly similar to sailing on the ocean.

Flynn headed upstairs, finding Estellise and Rita cooking breakfast together. Estellise looked up and waved to him in greeting. Rita glanced at him before turning her attention back to her work, not particularly interested in talking to him. Flynn waved back, moving to stand beside the pink haired princess.

"Good morning Lady Estellise."

"Good morning! Did you sleep well?"

Estellise looked him up and down, trying to determine if Flynn had gotten enough rest. Flynn self consciously ran his hand through his messy blonde hair in a futile attempt to get it to look more presentable.

"Yes, I slept well. Thank you," Flynn replied, nodding. "Do you need any help here?"

Rita and Estellise shared a slightly worried look, which Flynn didn't understand. There was no reason that he could think of for them to look so concerned, although admittedly he didn't have the best reputation after the cooking contest he had entered. That still didn't warrant Estellise's slightly horrified expression. After a moment, Rita answered his question.

"No. We're fine," Rita replied in her usual brusque manner. "You're intruding on our alone time actually. Get out."

Flynn raised his eyebrows in surprise, but merely nodded and walked out. After he left the room, he could hear muffled laughter and a mumbled 'shut up' in response. He walked away from the cabin and headed back over to the railing. Raven was sitting on the edge of the railing, not seeming to care that they were more than a mile above the ground. When Flynn walked up, Raven got to his feet and waved to Flynn, a lazy grin spreading across his face.

"Hey there Commandant," Raven greeted.

"Hello Raven," Flynn replied.

"How'd ya manage to stay outside for so long last night?" Raven asked. "Its freezing out here."

"I didn't really notice," Flynn said, shaking his head. "Though if you're cold, why are you still standing around out here?"

Raven shrugged in response, and gestured towards the cabin.

"Well if I stayed inside, Rita would bite my head off."

"Did Rita kick you out as well?" Flynn asked, a little surprised.

"Yeah," Raven said, shaking his head. "Ah, youth. What I wouldn't give ta be young again."

"You're not that old though..."

At that moment, Estellise hurried out of the cabin and waved them over.

"Breakfast is ready everyone!" she called before retreating back into the cabin.

"Looks like its safe ta go back in now," Raven remarked.

Flynn followed Raven back into the cabin where they were soon joined by Judith and Karol. They all sat down at the table for breakfast. It was a little surprising to Flynn that Rita and Estellise were good at cooking. He supposed that living in Halure together for a few years had given them time to practice their skills.

"This is very good," Judith praised them.

"Oh, it was mostly Rita," Estellise insisted.

"That's not true," Rita said, shaking her head. "Estelle's a much better cook than me."

"You're both so modest," Judith commented, chuckling.

Repede climbed up the stairs and took a seat beside Flynn, looking up expectantly at him. Flynn smiled, reaching down to feed some of his breakfast to him. Repede ate it eagerly, seeming to find it as good as everyone else did.

They all ate their breakfast quickly, and once the dishes had been cleared away, Karol spread a world map out on the table. Judith pulled out her book about angels and opened it up. Flynn tried to read the words on it, but it was written in a language that he didn't understand. There were several detailed drawings and diagrams on the page, but they only served to confuse Flynn even further, so instead he turned his attention to the map where the route they were taking was marked out with string.

"We've been traveling for a really long time Judith," Karol commented. "How much farther do we have to go? Are we even going the right way?"

"I'm pretty sure that we're heading in the right direction," Judith said, pursing her lips and frowning slightly. "But its seems like it'll be harder to get there than I originally thought."

"What do you mean?" Estellise asked.

"See for yourself."

Judith slid the book across the table towards Estellise, who picked it up and scanned the pages for a few moments before placing it back down on the table, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, I can't read this," Estellise said, smiling sheepishly. "What language is this written in?"

"Its a code in a language that we Krytia sometimes use," Judith replied. "I think I've decoded most of it, but figuring out codes is not my strong point."

Estellise looked dejected upon hearing this. Then, her gaze landed on Rita and an idea suddenly occurred to her.

"I bet Rita could do it!" Estellise exclaimed excitedly.

Rita looked at Estellise in shock, her mouth hanging slightly open as she processed the statement. Rita looked down at the book, her expression turning from one of uncertainty to one of determination as she ran her hands across the yellowed pages of the old tome. Looking back up at the pink haired princess, who was looking expectantly at her, Rita quickly turned her gaze away.

"I-it's not really a language I know but... I guess I could do it. With Judith's help to figure out the language of course..."

Estellise looked overjoyed by Rita's response, despite the fact that the mage was still averting her gaze.

"That's wonderful Rita!" Estellise exclaimed, throwing her arms around Rita and hugging her.

"I haven't done anything yet," Rita protested, blushing as she tried to squirm away from Estellise.

Pouting slightly, Estellise reluctantly let go of Rita. Judith chuckled to herself, reaching over to take back the book, tucking it under one arm.

"I'm sure that together, we should be able to figure something out."

Rita nodded in agreement, reaching up to tuck a stray strand of her brown hair behind her ear. She glanced at Estellise as she spoke.

"We should get started decoding this right away. I'm eager to get this over with so we can get to this angel realm already."

"Yeah, I don't think Flynn can wait much longer either. He's all fidgety," Karol remarked.

Realizing that he had been tugging on the sleeves of his shirt as he waited impatiently for the others to figure something out, Flynn quickly placed his hands in his lap. He couldn't help but feel anxious though. The longer he waited for them to arrive at their destination, the more he began to worry that this was just some wild goose chase and that Yuri had been spirited away and would never be seen again. Flynn wasn't normally one to be pessimistic, but in a situation like this, the optimism shared by the others seemed a little misguided. Then again, no matter how many times Yuri disappeared, he would always turn up again.

"Is there anything I can do in the meantime?" Flynn asked, feeling as if he had to say something now that everyone's attention was suddenly directed at him.

"I don't think so," Judith replied, shaking her head. "All you can really do is wait."

Flynn felt a little irritated by her response. Honestly, anything would have been better than just sitting around. If he didn't get something to do soon, he was going to drive himself crazy.

"I brought some cards," Karol said, pulling out a pack of cards. "Why don't we play some poker? As long as Judy isn't playing, it should be fair."

"I always play fair," Judith said, a little indignantly.

"That's sounds like a good idea," Flynn replied.

"I think I'll join ya too,"Raven said, slowly getting to his feet. "I don't have much else ta do today."

"I'll join as well," Estellise said.

"Lets go downstairs and I'll set up one of the tables," Karol said, leading the way down the stairs.

Raven and Estellise went after him, and Flynn soon followed, leaving Rita and Judith to decode the remainder of the passage about getting to the angel realm.

Karol set up a small table and pulled up a couple chairs, a crate, and a large wooden trunk for them to sit down on. The young guild leader shuffled and dealt out the cards so that they could begin the game. Flynn was not really paying much attention to the game, though he probably should have been because he was doing horribly. At least he was beating Estellise, who was extremely easy to read even when one wasn't really paying attention.

After a while, Flynn could no longer even feign interest in what was going on. Rather than appear uninterested, he excused himself from the game as soon as he was able to. Raven made some joke about how Flynn was smart to leave before he lost more than he already had, but Flynn wasn't really listening.

Flynn went upstairs wanting to ask how far they had gotten, but Rita and Judith appeared so focused that he decided it was beat not to disturb them. He walked back outside and went back to leaning against the railing and staring down at the world below, now even smaller than it had been before. Ba'ul was climbing even higher.

Closing his eyes, Flynn took a deep breath of the cool morning air. A shiver ran down his spine and he wrapped his arms around himself, wishing that he had had the foresight to bring a jacket or something. After a few minutes, he adapted a little and the cold ceased to bother him as much. Flynn settled down against the railing, staring out ahead. He slipped one of his hands into his pocket, his fingers curling around the fluffy feather that he had been keeping in his pocket.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but the sun was high in the sky before someone came out to see how he was doing. It was Estellise, carrying a blanket which she wrapped around his shoulders. She looked a little concerned, and placed the back of her hand against his forehead.

"You don't look so good Flynn," Estellise said. "You shouldn't stay out here too long. You'll catch a cold if you do."

"Ah... Thank you Lady Estellise," Flynn said, smiling and pulling the blanket tighter around himself. "I'm sure that I'll be fine though."

"We're probably going to have lunch soon."

"I'm not actually that hungry," Flynn said, shaking his head.

"You have to eat," Estellise replied, frowning and placing her hands on her hips. "I'm serious. At this rate you really will get sick."

"You can't be certain of that. I feel perfectly fine."

Estellise sighed, looking at him with an expression that made it seem that she was pitying him. Flynn had to remind himself that she didn't mean any harm by it. She was only trying to help. He felt incredibly stressed though, and wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

"I'll come out to check on you later..." Estellise said, looking reluctant to leave.

Flynn said nothing in response, turning his attention back to the world below him. He placed his hands against the wooden railing and gripped it tightly. The blanket that was wrapped around his shoulders threatened to blow off, so he reached up with one hand to wrap it tighter, creating a sort of makeshift cloak. It was maddening to have to just sit around and wait. So much so, that it wasn't long before Flynn began to pace across the deck. The cold wind seemed to pierce through him even more as he walked around, and despite the blanket be began to shiver violently.

He paused at the very front of the boat, sitting down and curling up and hugging his knees. Flynn could hear the others, talking and laughing inside. Even though he could have easily gotten up and joined them, Flynn felt a kind of pleasure from isolating himself in this manner. However, this feeling was mixed with sort of resentment towards them. He simply could not understand how they could be so carefree under the circumstances. Still, it was probably unreasonable to want them to feel the same as him. Especially since how he was feeling was completely miserable.

Flynn sighed, feeling a little sick to his stomach. He wasn't sure if it was because he felt guilty, or if he really was getting sick. Perhaps Estellise had been right after all. At the very least, the cold had stopped bothering him once again. Instead though, his body had started to become numb. It occurred to him that he might freeze to death if he stayed outside much longer. Flynn didn't want that to happen. There was no way that he would allow himself to die before getting to see Yuri again.

Slowly getting to his feet, Flynn stumbled forward in the direction of the cabin. Before he reached the door, Estellise came out carrying a bowl of soup which she promptly dropped onto the floor in shock. She took one look at his purple lips and his pale complexion and pulled him inside. That was the last thing Flynn was conscious of before everything went black.

Flynn became vaguely aware of someone brushing his hair back from his forehead. His eyes opened, his vision blurry and unable to make out much more that the silhouette of the person leaning over him. For a moment, he thought it was Yuri, but the impossibility of that being the case soon hit him like a ton of bricks and he shut his eyes once more. If it wasn't Yuri, he didn't want to make the effort to keep his eyes open.

The person above him was Estellise of course. She was taking his temperature with the back of her hand. How Flynn could have even considered that Yuri would be the one by his side was beyond him. Perhaps he was so sick that he was becoming delirious. Or maybe waiting for so long really had driven him mad. Since when had he been so clingy to his long haired friend? He really couldn't say for certain.

In truth, it really hadn't been all that long since he had last seen Yuri. It was not the longest time he had gone without seeing Yuri. As a matter of fact, it wasn't even the first time that he hadn't known where Yuri was for a long period of time. But there had been something in the finality of Yuri's words that had left Flynn with an empty feeling. There was a certainty in Yuri's tone of voice that suggested that they would never see each other again.

Did Yuri even want Flynn to look for him? Could it be that the dark haired swordsman never wanted to see him again? At this point, it really didn't matter to Flynn. Whether Yuri wanted to see him or not, Flynn was coming. No matter what, Flynn was going to find him. And then he would probably kick his ass for disappearing and making him worry.

As he tried to sit up, Flynn found that he was pushed back down on the bed with a surprising amount of strength. He opened his eyes in surprise and looked up at the stern face of Estellise. It was clear that she would not be letting him up any time soon.

"You have to rest."

"I'm all right now Lady Estellise," Flynn insisted, trying to escape from Estellise's grip. When had she gotten so strong?

Rita stepped forward and peered down at Flynn disapprovingly.

"Does your definition of 'fine' mean looking like the living dead?" she asked. "Because if so, then I agree with you."

Flynn turned his attention to Rita, temporarily taken aback. Did he seriously look that bad? There wasn't any kind of reflective surface nearby that could answer this question.

It then occurred to Flynn that Rita's presence in the room must either mean that Rita had successfully figured out the coded language, or that she had given up on it. Flynn hoped that it was the former, and that the book had proved useful in finding the route they had to take to reach their destination.

"Rita, if you're here then... Did you finish decoding the book?" Flynn asked.

"To the best of my abilities. But that's not the issue here," Rita replied crossing her arms and glaring at Flynn. "You nearly gave Estelle a heart attack when you collapsed. She's been fussing over you ever since. Not to mention that everyone else was worried because you weren't waking up."

"I wasn't waking up? How long have I been out?"

"A couple days," Estellise admitted. "We almost decided to head back to Zaphias and have a doctor treat you properly."

"Estelle is just about as good as most of the doctors there though, so your fever broke a little earlier today and you were sleeping peacefully until now," Rita replied.

"I-I'm not really as good as a practiced physician is," Estellise stammered, blushing a little at the praise. "But I'm glad that I was able to help you recover properly. You still have to rest though. You're not out of the woods yet."

"I feel fine though," Flynn insisted.

Rita rolled her eyes and raised her book threateningly.

"Am I gonna have to knock you out to get you to stay in bed?"

"R-Rita!"

Estellise got up and took the book from Rita's unresisting hand. It was clear that she didn't really intend to hit Flynn when he was sick, but Estellise didn't seem to realize this. Flynn decided that it would be best if he were to change the subject.

"So were we heading in the right direction after all?"

Rita placed her book down and nodded.

"I made a few minor adjustments to our course, but for the most part we were going the right way," she replied. "I also discovered that we'll have to fly above the clouds in order to find the angel realm.."

"We can't do that just yet though," Estellise cut in.

Flynn stared blankly at her. What possible reason could she have for putting off going above the clouds. He was already going mad waiting to see Yuri again and she wanted to wait longer. It must have had something to do with his health. This theory was proven correct when Estellise spoke again.

"You're still not in a fit state to handle the strain that will be put on you if we climb to an even higher altitude. I don't want to risk worsening your condition."

"He seems to be recovering fine though," Rita pointed out, finally deciding to take Flynn's side for once.

"Still, he might get even sicker in the extremely thin air up there. He _did _nearly freeze to death. And if he tries to move around too much, who knows what will happen?"

"We should let him decide that for himself though," Rita said, clearly wanting to get going. "He's probably the best judge of his own condition."

"Just do it," Flynn said, shaking his head. As eager as Rita was to get going, Flynn was even more so. He didn't want to wait any longer. He may have been a patient man, but the strain of waiting and being uncertain what had happened to Yuri was getting unbearable. Besides, he really did feel much better than before. "I promise to stay in bed until we get there, so you don't have to worry about me."

"Alright. I'll tell Judith to have Ba'ul fly up now then," Rita said, nodding and turning quickly to run up the stairs.

"I still don't think it's a very good idea," Estellise said, following after her and leaving Flynn on his own.

Flynn lay back down in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. What was it that lay above the clouds? If the angel realm really was there, it would explain why no human had ever seen if before. Other than Judith's book though, there was no proof that it really existed. The others seemed to accept it without question though, so Flynn supposed that he might as well just rely on them. He hadn't really done anything to help them find Yuri after all. All he could really do was wait, even if it was driving him insane with worry.

The air was starting to become thinner, and despite lying down, Flynn was starting to feel a little light headed. How could anyone breath so high in the air? Flynn's physical condition wasn't helping him much either. He sat up, finding that doing so caused the room to spin, or at least his perception of it. They weren't climbing higher at a very steep rate, but there was a ringing in Flynn's ears that simply would not go away. He lay back down, deciding to heed Estellise's advice and not try to move too much.

After a few moments, Karol ran excitedly down the stairs and over to Flynn's bed. Flynn winced a little at the loud sound of the teen's footsteps, but even though he still had a headache it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been earlier.

"Flynn! You won't believe it!"

"Not so loud please," Flynn said, sitting up very slowly and rubbing his head. "What won't I believe?"

"The angel realm! We really found it!"

Flynn's eyes widened in surprise and he quickly got to his feet. He swayed dangerously, but managed to grab onto Karol's shoulder in time to steady himself.

"Is that true?" Flynn asked. "Have you really found it?"

Karol grinned up at him, folding his arms across his chest.

"Of course! I wouldn't make something like that up."

Karol had barely finished speaking before Flynn was running up the stairs. Karol called after him that he shouldn't be out of bed so soon, but Flynn didn't listen to him. He ran outside to where the others were standing, staring the large city in the sky which stood before them.

The sight was absolutely breathtaking. It glimmered under the sunlight, it's golden color almost seeming to glow. The city, undoubtedly the angel realm that they had been searching for, was even larger than Zaphias. A large castle towered over the whole scene, the beautiful building more impressive than anything Flynn had ever seen before. That it was all suspended in mid air with no visible means of support was hard to process, but the city certainly looked as impressive as Flynn had imagined, if not more so.

Ba'ul flew the ship towards the city. A few curious monsters that Flynn had never seen before flew by their side for a moment before changing course and flying away. They didn't seem hostile at all, and Flynn looked to his right to see Karol scribbling furiously in a book.

"Flynn! You shouldn't be out of bed yet!" Estellise cried, finally tearing her gaze away from the city to look at him.

"I'm fine. My headache is mostly gone anyways," Flynn said.

"Mostly gone isn't the same as completely gone though."

Flynn waved a hand dismissively and moved to stand at the bow with the others.

"The air isn't thin up here any more," he remarked. "Why is that?"

"I'm not sure," Rita said, turning to face him. "There's something about the air here that feels different though. I can't put my finger on it. It seems to have some kind of healing properties though."

"That's for sure," Raven said. "It seems ta ease all aches and pains. I must feel at least ten years younger."

Flynn considered this, and realized that his headache was gone now that he had stepped outside. The air wasn't cold either, but rather pleasantly warm. Standing outside on the deck seemed to revitalize him. Was it because they were so close to the angel realm? There were many things about this place that Flynn didn't know, and looking around at the others, he saw both Rita and Karol taking notes diligently.

Ba'ul let out a low warble as they approached the city, the golden gates towering over them shining brightly under the afternoon sun. It truly was like nothing that Flynn had ever seen before.

"So this is the angel realm..." Flynn breathed, and even though it stood there in front of him, he hardly believed it. Was this really where Yuri was? It wouldn't be long before Flynn found out for certain.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** And its up (finally)! Sorry that this took kinda long to upload. For some reason, it took longer to write than I expected (maybe because its the longest chapter yet?). This chapter really tested the limits of my patience, and I think that kinda manifested itself in Flynn's feelings at some points... Oh well. Anyways, as usual I'm sorry for any mistakes that I might make, and a huge thank you to the people who reviewed; Tales of Brothers, Lazy Gaga, and that random guest who commented. The fact that people are actually reading this makes me actually try to put in effort to make this good (whether I succeed at that or not is debatable though). I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I'm sorry that I can't write decent chapter titles. I hate chapter titles...

**[***]**

**Chapter 4 – Elysia, Realm of the Angels**

Ba'ul slowly flew up beside the gate and hovered in place so that Karol and Judith could drop the gangplank down. The gangplank landed with a loud thud upon the path leading up to the gate. Flynn was the first one to cross the gangplank, and he jogged forward towards the impressively large structure. He stared up at the gate, raising his arm to shield his eyes from the bright glare.

"Looks like we finally made it," Karol remarked, walking up beside Flynn. "The journey took longer than I thought it would."

"Well, it would be strange if it was easy to find this place," Rita said. "Otherwise more people would know about it outside of the legends."

"That's true..." Karol admitted.

Estellise walked up to the gate and peered curiously through the golden bars at the city up ahead.

"The city is really big," she commented. "It might be hard to find Yuri in such a huge city. I wouldn't know where to start looking."

Flynn frowned, knowing that she was right. It wouldn't be easy to try to find Yuri here, but that didn't mean that it was impossible. Besides, they had already come this far, and Flynn wasn't about to be intimidated by the prospect of searching such a large city.

"Well, we might as well get started," Flynn said, reaching up to push open the gate and immediately drawing his hand back with a yelp as it burned his skin.

"Flynn?! Are you alright?" Estellise exclaimed, hurrying over to his side and taking his hand.

She turned Flynn's hand over to examine it. The burn was slowly healing on its own, but she still cast a quick healing arte on it to ease the pain.

"I'm fine," Flynn insisted, smiling in a way that he hoped was reassuring. "It looks like getting in won't be as straightforward as I had hoped."

"How are we going to get in if we can't open the gate?" Karol asked.

"Couldn't Ba'ul fly us over?" Flynn asked.

"No," Judith said, shaking her head. "Ba'ul can't land on top of cities. This is the closest he can bring us, so it'll have to do."

"In that case, we can just blast it down," Rita said, beginning to cast a spell.

"R-Rita!" Estellise exclaimed, grabbing the mage's wrist in a firm grip to keep her from shooting fireballs at the gate. "You can't do that!"

"Why not?" Rita asked, frowning, but nevertheless seeming to calm down a little.

"I don't think the people here will like it if we knock it down," Estellise replied. "I'm sure there's another way in. If someone is nearby, we could ask them."

They looked around, but the surrounding area seemed deserted. Flynn walked over to the edge of the path to see if there was some way around the gate. He stopped abruptly in front of the ledge, looking down to see that it was a sharp drop into a sea of clouds. Flynn stumbled back hastily, not wanting to risk falling over the edge to what would certainly be his death. He let out a sigh of relief, placing his hand over his heart and feeling it beating wildly inside his chest.

"What is it Flynn?" Karol called, making his way over to the ledge where Flynn had been standing before. "Did you see something over here?"

"Karol wait!" Flynn called, realizing that Karol was standing dangerously close to the edge.

Karol turned to look curiously at Flynn and opened his mouth to say something, only to let out a startled yelp as his foot slipped and he lost his balance. The young guild leader made a desperate grab for the ledge as he fell, but didn't manage to hold on long enough to be helped by Flynn, who had rushed over to try to save him. Karol's gloved hand let go and Flynn found himself grabbing for thin air.

Flynn stared in horror as Karol fell, seeming to be frozen in midair for a split second before he disappeared beneath the clouds. The others hurried over to see what had happened. Estellise's hands flew to her mouth in shock, quickly turning away and burying her face into Rita's shoulder. The brown haired mage reached up and rubbed Estellise's back to try to comfort her, looking over at Flynn in disbelief. Repede padded over to Flynn's side, uttering a whine and nuzzling Flynn's hand. Even Raven hung his head solemnly, not uttering a word. Flynn felt incredibly guilty, knowing that it was his fault. He should have noticed sooner that Karol was too close to the edge. He should have been able to move faster and save him.

"I... I'm so sorry," Flynn said, gritting his teeth together and staring intently at the ground. "I didn't realize that he..."

Raven walked over and placed a hand on Flynn's shoulder. The blond turned to look at the ex-captain, seeing that there was no resentment in his gaze; only sympathy, which he didn't deserve.

"It's not your fault kid," Raven reassured him. "There was nothing you could have done."

Flynn glanced doubtfully over at Estellise, who was sobbing quietly, and at Repede, who was lying on the ground beside him and looking out at the horizon. He clenched his fists and shook his head.

"How can I believe that?" Flynn asked. "I should have reacted faster. If I had just been a little faster then I could have saved him."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Raven said. "There's no sense dwelling over 'what if's. It was an accident. I don't blame you. None of us do, so you shouldn't blame yourself like this."

Flynn sighed and hung his head. Even though Raven reassured him that it wasn't his fault, Flynn wasn't convinced that it was true. As he raised his head, he noticed that Judith had walked over to the edge as well. He was about to call out to her to be careful when he noticed that Judith had a faint smile on her face. Flynn stared at her in confusion as she turned and smiled cheerfully at him.

"You don't have to worry Flynn," Judith said. "Everything is all right."

Flynn gaped at her in shock, wondering how she could be so cheerful in these circumstances. Suddenly, Repede jumped to his feet and began barking excitedly, rushing over to the edge beside Judith. Estellise turned, blinking tears out of her eyes and looking curiously at Judith, who waved them all over. Flynn walked over to Judith's side and peered down over the edge where she was pointing. Off in the distance, a winged figure was flying towards them.

"Karol!" Estellise cried, a relieved smile crossing her face.

Flynn squinted to try to see better. Since when did Karol have wings? It took a few moments for Flynn to realize that the wings belonged to a person who was carrying Karol, and that they were quickly flying back up towards them. The blond angel was holding on tightly to Karol, who appeared shaken but nevertheless unharmed as the angel slowly set him down on the ground beside them. He was immediately pulled into a tight hug by Estellise.

"Karol, are you all right?! I was so worried!" Estellise cried, refusing to let go of the brunette, even though he was squirming a bit. "I thought we'd lost you forever!"

"I'm fine Estelle," Karol insisted her, patting her uncertainly on the back. "Honestly, I though I was done for until Hanael saved me."

Estellise finally let go of Karol and turned to the angel, who had just landed beside Raven. The angel wore gold armor over a long white robe. There was a sword strapped to his belt, and he wore a long green cape attached to the back of his armor. Flynn's first impression was that the angel was some sort of guard. Estellise bowed respectfully to the angel, smiling gratefully at him.

"Thank you so much!" she said. "We are in your debt."

The angel, Hanael, shook his head and returned her smile.

"Think nothing of it," he said. "This is part of my job. Although admittedly, I don't usually find myself having to save people who fall over the edge. It's not often that we get human visitors here."

Karol grinned as he watched the two interact, though the grin was wiped off his face after Rita sneaked up behind him and hit him in the head with her book.

"Ow!" Karol exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head and glaring reproachfully at Rita. "What on earth was that for?"

"For falling off the edge like an idiot," Rita snapped. "You scared us all half to death!"

"S-sorry," Karol muttered sheepishly.

"You should be," Rita huffed, storming off.

Raven walked over to Karol's side and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Looks like ya made her angry," Raven commented. "Though ya can't really blame her. You gave us all quite a fright."

"I know... I'm sorry," Karol said, shaking his head. "I guess I was pretty careless..."

Flynn smiled as he watched the two talk. The scene reminded him of the way he used to interact with his father. It was fairly heartwarming, in a way, and Flynn was glad that Karol had found a father figure in the middle aged guild member. When Flynn's father had died when he was only a young teen, he had been forced to grow up much faster than he should have. Of course, that was a fairly common occurrence among the children of knights. He had still been better off that Yuri, who had never known his parents at all and had been forced to grow up even sooner. It wasn't fair, but life was rarely so.

At the thought of Yuri, Flynn was reminded of the urgency of their quest. It had already taken a few days to travel to the angel realm, and he still didn't know why Yuri had been taken here. They had to hurry and find Yuri or who knew what would happen to him? Now that they had found one of the angels, perhaps they would finally be able to get inside the city.

"Excuse me Mr-" Flynn began.

"Just Hanael is fine."

"Hanael then," Flynn continued. "I was wondering if you might be able to let us into the city."

Hanael seemed to hesitate, looking up at the gate and seeming to contemplate the request. He turned back to Flynn and shrugged.

"I suppose so," he said. "I'll have to escort you though."

"That's all right," Judith said, walking up beside the angel and striking her usual seductive pose. "Having an escort will be helpful since we don't know our way around the city yet."

Hanael blushed and quickly hurried away to open the gates. He raised a hand and cast a spell and the gates parted inwards. They followed him inside as he led the way into the city. Flynn looked around at the city curiously. It was so clean, it was practically sparkling. Even the Royal Quarter couldn't compare to the dazzling city that surrounded them.

"So, what brings you all the way here?" Hanael asked, glancing back at them.

"We're looking for a friend of ours," Estellise replied.

"A friend?" Hanael, looking curiously at them. "Another human?"

"Yes, that's right," Estellise replied. "Have you seen him?"

Hanael shook his head.

"No, I'm sorry," he said, smiling sympathetically. "I don't remember seeing any other humans here."

"Are you sure?" Estellise asked, her face falling.

"Well... He could have come in while I was off duty," Hanael admitted. "I should have thought I'd hear about it though. A human coming here is a pretty big deal since it almost never happens. Everyone gets really curious, so you usually hear it on the grapevine within a few hours."

As Flynn continued to look around, he spotted several people looking out of their windows at them. It felt a little strange to be stared at so intently, but that didn't really matter much. He didn't plan on staying long anyways, even if it was a very beautiful city.

Estellise was still chatting with Hanael excitedly, but Flynn tuned her out, concentrating instead on where they should begin looking. Beside him, Rita was brooding about something or other. About to ask what was wrong, Flynn's attention was instead drawn to Karol, who had walked up beside him and gently tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey Flynn..." Karol whispered. "Do you have any idea where Hanael is taking us?"

"I'm not sure," Flynn replied, frowning slightly. "It doesn't seem like we're going anywhere in particular. Perhaps we should ask."

"Ah, good idea," Karol said, moving behind Flynn and pushing him forward a little. "Go on and ask."

"Why me? Can't you do it yourself?"

Karol smiled sheepishly, and for the first time Flynn noticed that he seemed a little nervous. It seemed strange that the usually confidant teen would be so nervous about talking to the angel. Flynn looked over at Hanael again, and an idea occurred to him. Perhaps Karol was intimidated by the fact that Hanael had wings. After all, the fact that angels existed was still fairly new to all of them, excepting Judith. Even if Karol had accomplished a great many things for his age, he was still pretty young.

"I could, but you're better at talking to people than I am," Karol replied.

"Are you nervous because he has wings?" Flynn asked.

"That's not it," Karol said, shaking his head vigorously. "I... I can do it. This is all just pretty new to me. Though I guess it's new to you too."

"Yes, but if you're nervous, I can do it."

Flynn had no problem with talking to the angel, even if he didn't know anything about the proper formalities that he would be expected to use. However, instead of being reassured, Karol seemed a little insulted. It was rather odd, since Karol was the one who had told him to do it in the first place. Then again, there were a lot of things that Flynn didn't know about the young guild leader.

"I'll do it," Karol said, more determined than ever to prove himself. "I'm not a kid."

Karol hurried off towards Hanael and Flynn watched him go in surprise. He chuckled a little to himself, recalling stories that Yuri had told him about Karol and how he was always so determined to prove himself to others. Apparently, he had gotten better at relying on others when he needed to, but Karol would surely be reluctant to rely on people all the time, as he very well should be. Independence was an admirable quality in a leader after all. At that thought, Flynn was once again plagued by doubts. Was he relying too much on Yuri? Was he being unreasonably possessive of his friend? Flynn shook his head, remembering the reason that he had given for going on this journey in the first place. He wanted to know why Yuri had disappeared so suddenly and make sure that Yuri was all right. Something like that couldn't be seen as being clingy, right?

He was driven out of this negative train of though when Judith placed a hand on his shoulder and wrapped her other arm about Rita's shoulders.

"What are you two brooding for?" Judith asked.

"I'm not brooding," Flynn and Rita answered simultaneously, Rita with a little more resentment in her tone than Flynn.

"Sure you're not," Judith said. She giggled, earning herself one of Rita's signature death glares. "Come on and lighten up. It won't be long until we find Yuri, I can tell."

"Good," Rita said, folding her arms across her chest. "Then I'll be able to kick his ass for making us come all the way out here."

"You'll have to stand in line for that," Flynn said.

Judith smirked in amusement at his statement and Rita merely rolled her eyes.

"Ya should probably wait to hear his reason before beating him up," Raven commented.

Rita glanced over her shoulder at him and frowned.

"I don't need a reason to beat someone up," she replied, jabbing Raven in the stomach with her elbow.

Raven let out a yelp and clutched at his stomach, though Flynn knew that it probably didn't hurt nearly as bad as Raven pretended that it did.

"Ow... Glad ta see yer as violent as ever," Raven said.

Rita scoffed at this, but she couldn't keep a slight smile from her expression. Flynn didn't really understand why she seemed to derive pleasure from hurting Raven, although the others in the group seemed fairly used to it so Flynn didn't comment upon it.

Judith linked her arm with Flynn's, startling him slightly. She had a slightly mysterious smile on her face, as she usually did, and her gaze flickered briefly to Rita before returning to Flynn.

"She seems to have cheered up a little," Judith commented. "That's good. Jealously is a hard thing to deal with after all."

"Jealously?" Flynn asked, uncertain about what Judith was referring to.

"Never mind," Judith said, waving a hand dismissively. "Anyways, what about you? You still look like you're on edge, even though we're fairly close to finding Yuri now."

"Ah, do I?" Flynn asked, tearing his gaze away from Judith's piercing one. "I suppose I'm just worried about him. I don't know why he's here, or if he's hurt or something like that."

"He's fine," Judith insisted. "I know he is."

"How?"

Judith smirked slightly and shook her head.

"Woman's intuition."

Flynn smiled, but he wasn't all that reassured. Judith seemed to know what she was doing, perhaps even more than she was letting on. Then again, she apparently always seemed that way according to Yuri, whether she knew what was going on or not. It was hard to tell what was on her mind.

"I see. But are you sure that he's even here?"

"I'm surprised that you're even asking that question at this point," Judith said, raising her eyebrows skeptically.

"It just seems strange that Yuri would be in a place like this."

"Well, we won't know until we look will we?"

Flynn opened his mouth to respond when he was interrupted by Karol calling out to them from a few feet ahead where he stood beside Estellise and Hanael.

"Guys! Hanael is going to take us to the castle!"

Flynn turned and gave Judith a puzzled look. Why were they going to the castle? It wasn't as if they were sightseeing. Surely they should be asking around if anyone had seen or heard about a human being brought here instead.

"That sounds like a good idea to me," Judith said upon noticing Flynn's confusion. "After all, the castle is at the center of the city. If anyone here knows where Yuri is, it would be the people there, don't you think? Starting our search there would be best."

"Oh, that... makes sense," Flynn responded, wondering why on earth that hadn't occurred to him.

Repede barked eagerly and bounded off ahead to walk beside Karol. The dog seemed fairly eager now that they had a particular destination in mind. Flynn continued to walk at the same pace, wondering what it must be like for Repede to have lost Yuri in the manner that he had. Repede was always fairly independent and of course he still had Flynn, who would always make time to play with the dog a little whenever Yuri brought him along on one of his visits. At the same time, it had always seemed that Yuri was closer to Repede and understood him better than anyone else, including Flynn. What would happen if they didn't manage to find Yuri? Flynn shook his head. No, he didn't want to think about that. Not now that they were so close to finding him.

"Flynn?" Judith asked. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yes I'm fine," Flynn replied, a little startled. "I was just thinking."

Judith smiled sympathetically at Flynn, and the blond wondered if his inner turmoil showed in his expression. He hoped not, since that would probably only end up worrying everyone. Judith tugged gently on his arm, intent on keeping him from dwelling too much on his worries about Yuri.

"Come on," she said. "We're almost there."

They followed Hanael up to the castle, stopping at the castle gates where two other angels were guarding the entrance. They glanced at each other briefly, then looked slightly suspiciously at the group. Considering how apparently rare it was to see humans, they had good reason for being suspicious. Flynn himself wasn't particularly sure if he could really trust the angels either. After all, they had taken Yuri here for some reason. Even if Yuri had gone willingly, which would explain the mysterious goodbye, Flynn didn't know what they intended to do with him. At the moment, he could really only come up with bad things; although what reason the angels would have for hurting Yuri in some way, Flynn couldn't really say. Perhaps it was best if he give them the benefit of the doubt, although from the way they were glaring at them, it didn't seem that the guards would be giving him the same courtesy any time soon.

"What business do you have here humans?"

Flynn flinched slightly at the hostility in the guard's tone. He wasn't about to be intimidated though, and he walked to the front of the group to stand face to face with the guard who had asked the question.

"We are looking for a friend of ours who was brought here," Flynn said, using the most authoritative tone he could muster. Although most people were usually affected by his commanding voice, the guards didn't seem at all impressed.

"And why should we trust what you say? We had heard no word of your arrival. For all we know, you could have some underhanded motive for coming here."

Hanael moved forward to stand beside Flynn. The guards appeared briefly surprised, but only for a moment before resuming their original stoic expression.

"Don't be like that guys," Hanael said. "I'm the one who brought them here."

"And I will be sure to inform your captain of your clear defiance of protocol," the guard replied. "You know very well that humans are not allowed here except when specified otherwise by the archangels."

Hanael hung his head sheepishly, seeming to shrink back slightly. Judith took this as her cue to step forward and try her hand at convincing the guards to let them in.

"We have come an awfully long way," she said. "Surely you wouldn't make us turn back now."

The guards exchanged a glance before turning their attention to Judith.

"One of you is a Krytian?" asked the guard on Flynn's right. "That changes things."

"Really? You mean we can go inside?" Karol asked, looking surprised.

"No," the guard said, shaking his head. "Humans are not allowed inside the castle without permission from an archangel. But we _can_ allow the Krytian woman inside."

Judith turned to the others, waiting for them to come to a decision. They exchanged doubtful glances, but there weren't any other options left to them.

"Do you mind going on your own Judith?" Flynn asked.

Not at all," Judith said, shaking her head. "I'll see what I can find and get back as soon as possible."

She walked forward and the guards opened the gate for her to pass through before closing it again with a loud clang. She glanced back over her shoulder and waved to them before continuing towards the large castle doors and disappearing inside.

"Be careful," Estellise called after her. Estellise turned to Flynn, looking uncertain. "Will she be all right on her own?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Flynn assured her.

"Yeah, Judy's tough," Karol added, grinning confidently. "In the meantime, we should probably ask around and see what else we can find out by asking around the city."

"For once, I agree with Karol," Rita said, glancing at the guards who were still watching them intently. "There's no sense in just waiting around when we could be doing something productive."

"Are you still going to be escorting us Hanael?" Estellise asked, turning to look at Hanael.

Hanael glanced at the guards, looking for confirmation for what he should do.

"Now that you brought them inside, they're your responsibility," one of the guards said. "You'd better keep a close eye on them and make sure they don't cause any trouble."

Hanael chuckled nervously, fidgeting under the intense glares of the guards.

"Alright," he said, turning back to Estellise. "Looks like I will be your guide for a while longer."

Estellise nodded, seeming happy. Glancing at Rita, Flynn noticed that the mage did not seem all that happy about the arrangement. He wasn't sure why she seemed to be in such a foul mood, but he was rather reluctant to ask for fear that she'd turn her anger on him instead.

"Let's head out then," Raven said. "We'll check back here in a little while to see if Judith has made any progress with her investigation here."

Repede barked in agreement and they all followed Hanael as he walked away, leaving the guards and their suspicious glares behind. They wandered through the streets, but didn't spot anyone else in the area until they reached what appeared to be the city center. In the middle of the large plaza stood a fountain with an impressively detailed sculpture of two angels. There were several market stalls set up around the square, and angels were milling around. There was an excited buzz of conversation which fell into silence as Hanael led the group towards the square. Once again, Flynn became aware of many curious stares being directed at them.

Eventually, one of the angels seemed to gather enough courage to approach them. This angel was a woman with dirty blonde hair. She was dressed in a long, light pink dress and had tied her hair back in a high ponytail with a silver hair ornament. The angel smiled cheerfully at them as she approached, and it was clear that she was excited to see them.

"Hello there!" she greeted.

"Sophia!" Hanael exclaimed, immediately brightening up upon recognizing her. "I wasn't expecting to meet you here."

"I wasn't expecting to see you here either. I thought you'd be on duty," Sophia responded, turning to look curiously at the rest of the group. "Who are your friends?"

Estellise quickly bowed to Sophia in greeting, smiling shyly and receiving a bright grin in return.

"Good afternoon Sophia," Estellise greeted. "My name is Estellise, but most people call me Estelle. And these are my friends; Rita, Flynn, Karol, and Raven. It is very nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Sophia responded, giggling cutely. "I've never seen a human before, so this is very exciting for me."

"Its pretty exciting for us too," Estellise said. "We traveled a long way to get here."

"I'm sure you did," Sophia said, nodding. "What is it that brings you all the way out here?"

"We're searching for a friend of ours," Estellise replied. "We found an angel feather, and it led us here. They wouldn't let us in to the castle though, so we're hoping to find some more clues by asking around the city."

"The guards wouldn't let you in? That sounds like them," Sophia said, sighing and shaking her head. "But they're just doing their job. They're really very nice when they're off duty."

"I don't think so. I think they're jerks all the time," Hanael said, frowning. "Not to mention they're extremely stubborn and work obsessed."

Sophia laughed and wrapped her arm around Hanael's, smirking playfully.

"Are you jealous?" Sophia teased. "Don't worry. I still like you best."

Hanael sputtered and blushed in response. Estellise looked curiously from one to the other, a wide smile spreading across her face as she regarded them.

"A-anyways," Hanael said, averting his gaze. "Shall we start asking around about that friend of yours?"

"Yeah," Rita said, nodding. "There are plenty of people here. I'm sure someone nearby is bound to know something about him."

"Who should we ask first though?" Karol asked, looking around at the angels who were regarding them with a cautious sort of curiosity.

"Well, I haven't heard about a human coming here before now, but I'm sure that if anyone will know about your friend, it'll be Diana," Sophia said. "She always seems to know about everything that goes on in this city."

"Oh yeah. That's a good idea," Hanael said, nodding in agreement.

"Where can we find her?" Flynn asked.

"I'll show you the way," Sophia replied. "It's not far from here."

Flynn nodded, but he wasn't too confident that they would really find anything out. It seemed that no matter where they went, they simply encountered more obstacles, and this new lead was probably going to result in another dead end. Still, they hadn't been searching long enough to say this for certain. Perhaps this woman really would have some information on Yuri's whereabouts. Flynn was probably just being overly pessimistic about everything.

Sophia began to lead the way down a side street and away from the crowd of curious angel onlookers. Flynn followed in silence, his hands clenched into fists. His unfamiliar surroundings were really beginning to set him on edge. Everything in the city was really similar to the way it was back home, and yet at the same time it was entirely different.

"How much farther do we have to go?" Flynn asked.

"Its not much farther now," Sophia answered, glancing over her shoulder at him. "You're a rather impatient person aren't you?"

"Only when it involves someone important to me," Flynn replied looking away.

"I see," Sophia said, smiling faintly. "I'm sure that your friend is fine though."

"That's what everyone says," Flynn muttered. "I can't believe that until I see him myself."

Sophia shrugged and turned down an alleyway. Although it was cleaner than any alley that Flynn had ever been in, the tall buildings on either side cast a shadow over the narrow road. They walked single file down the dark alley. There was a chill in the air, and Flynn shivered, wrapping his arms around himself and directing a suspicious glare at Sophia. Where was this woman leading them? It could be some kind of trap. After all, Flynn starting to doubt that he could really trust the angels, and he would probably never be certain that he could fully trust them until he found out what it was that they wanted with Yuri.

Estellise tapped Flynn on the shoulder and he glanced over at her to see that she was frowning in concern. It was clear that he was causing her to worry.

"Flynn, what's wrong?" she asked.

"It's nothing Lady Estellise," Flynn said, shaking his head. "I'm just a little worried."

"I understand that, but your expression looks like you're about to murder someone. Please calm down. You're setting everybody on edge."

Flynn gaped at Estellise in surprise. He must have been glaring really intently if _Estellise_ of all people had decided to call him out on it. Flynn took a deep breath and did his best to regain his composure. It didn't make any sense to bother other people simply because he was getting stressed out. He had always been able to keep his cool in difficult situations, so this should not have been any exception.

"We're here," Sophia said, gesturing to a large wooden door.

"Where is 'here' exactly?" Rita asked, pushing her way to the front of the group.

"This is Diana's house," Sophia replied, turning and knocking loudly on the door. "She'll almost certainly be able to tell where in the city your friend is."

"That's great," Raven said, clasping Flynn on the back. "I don't think Flynn here can bear ta wait much longer than this."

"I... I'm sorry..." Flynn said, smiling sheepishly at the group.

"Don't worry about it Flynn," Karol said, shaking his head. "We all really want to find Yuri."

As Karol spoke, the door slowly swung open to reveal a room that was even darker than the alleyway they had just walked through.

"Well, go on inside," Hanael said. "We'll wait out here for you."

Karol nodded and hurried inside. Rita, on the other hand, looked a little wary of simply walking inside, but eventually headed in with Estellise tailing closely behind her. Repede barked, looking up at Flynn before walking inside. Flynn wasn't sure how he felt about the fact that Sophia and Hanael waiting outside, suspecting that it could be a trap of some sort, but nevertheless followed Repede inside. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness. Raven closed the door behind them and someone who sounded like Estellise let out a small squeak of surprise. Flynn attempted to move about the room, but after a few steps he bumped into a table and decided to wait until he could see better.

"Is there anyone here?" Karol asked.

In response to his question, someone struck a match and the faint light of the flame pierced through the gloom. The light revealed that the person who had lit the match was a beautiful woman with pale skin and light gray hair. The woman had some sort of blindfold tied around her eyes, and her overall appearance was quite striking. At first, Flynn thought that this woman was a ghost, but he soon dismissed that thought when the woman moved to light a candle on the table and he caught sight of her large white wings. It seemed that she was an angel as well, which was only to be expected. Rita, who was clinging to Estellise's arm, glared at the woman.

"Who are you?" Rita demanded.

The woman turned in Rita's direction, a faint smile crossing her face.

"I thought that you would already know who I was since you took the trouble of coming to see me," she commented. "I'm Diana. You have come seeking my help have with something have you not?"

"Yes, that's right," Estellise said quickly, cutting off what was likely to be a sarcastic response from Rita. "How did you know that?"

"Everyone comes here for my help," Diana replied. "What is it that you wish to ask of me?"

"We believe a friend of ours was taken here," Estellise replied. "Sophia said that you might know where we can find him."

"Hm... well, finding people is my specialty," Diana said, nodding. "This friend of yours... is he a human as well?"

"Yes," Estellise said. "Can you really find him?"

"I can find anyone in the city," Diana said, taking a jug of water that stood on the table and pouring it's contents into a large bowl. "It is a special talent of mine. I can sense where any particular person is, and humans have an especially unique presence. It shouldn't be difficult to locate him."

Diana placed her fingers upon the surface of the water and closed her eyes. A faint warmth spread throughout the room and the water seemed to take on a faintly golden hue. Flynn watched in surprise as Diana cast some sort of spell. The type of magic that the angel used was remarkably similar to the kind used by Estellise. Glancing to one side, he noticed that Rita seemed to be studying Diana's movements intently. She probably noticed the similarities as well.

"Hm..." Diana hummed, her brow creasing in concentration. After a moment, she lifted her fingers out of the water and the light faded. "Are you sure he's in this city?"

"Why do you ask? Can't you find him?" Rita asked.

"As far as I can tell, you five are the only humans in the city," Diana said, sighing and shaking her head. "Unless there is something interfering with my powers, he isn't here."

There was an uncomfortable silence amongst the group. Flynn grit his teeth together angrily. So they were in the wrong place after all. They were wasting time in searching this place.

"Thank you for your help," Flynn said. "We'll have to leave and continue our search elsewhere."

"Wait Flynn," Estellise insisted. She went over to Diane's side. "Um... Are you absolutely sure that he isn't here? We came all this way, it'd be a shame if we had to turn back now."

"There may still be a chance that your friend is here..." Diane said cautiously. "But as I said, there would have to be something interfering with my powers, and there aren't many things that can do that."

"We shouldn't give up just yet," Estellise said, turning to the others. "The clues led us here in the first place, so I can't believe that this is a dead end. Let's search a little longer."

"I'm with Estelle," Rita said, crossing her arms. "It doesn't make sense to just turn back now."

"It couldn't hurt," Raven agreed.

"But we might be wasting time," Flynn objected. "We don't know where Yuri is. For all we know, someone could have kidnapped him and he's in trouble right now!"

"I don't think someone could have captured Yuri that easily though," Karol replied. "At least, not without you noticing. I'm for looking around here a little longer."

"You've been out voted Flynn," Rita said, smirking.

Flynn sighed. He didn't really have much of a choice. It wasn't as if he could really leave this place without their help. And really, they had a point. The angel feather was his only clue, and so it was probable that an angel was responsible for Yuri's disappearance. Whether that angel was here or not was uncertain, but there was still a chance that someone here knew something about Yuri's whereabouts. Besides, Flynn didn't have any ideas for where else they should start looking.

"Alright. I suppose we have to meet back up with Judith to see what she has found out in any case," Flynn said. "Thank you for your help Diane."

"I am only sorry that I could not be of a greater assistance," Diane said, smiling. "If you should ever need my help again, don't hesitate to call on me."

"Of course," Raven said, flashing a brilliant grin that turned into a grimace as Rita stomped on his foot. "Ouch! I didn't even do anything that time Rita!"

Rita merely rolled her eyes and walked out, followed by the others. Sophia and Hanael were outside chatting when they came out, and quickly turned to face them.

"Well?" Sophia asked. "Did you find out where your friend is?"

"No. It was a dead end," Rita replied.

Sophia's face fell, clearly disappointed to hear that they hadn't had any luck.

"Oh... I'm sorry," she said. "I thought for sure that Diane would be able to help."

"Don't worry about it," Flynn said. "We did learn that he probably isn't anywhere in this city."

"At least, not anywhere obvious," Estellise said. "Judith might have had better luck than us at the castle though, so we should head back there."

"Good idea," Hanael said. "I'll escort you guys back."

"I still have to finish some errands," Sophia said, smiling wistfully. "It was very nice meeting you all. I do hope that we will get a chance to meet again."

Sophia waved to them before spreading her wings and taking off into the sky. They watched her go, slightly awestruck by the action.

"Wow. That's so cool," Karol commented.

"Is it? I guess it would be for humans," Hanael said, shrugging.

Karol frowned slightly at the remark, but said nothing. They followed Hanael as he led the way through the streets and back towards the castle. They reached the gate just as Judith was walking out.

"Judith!" Estellise called, waving to her enthusiastically as she approached.

"Hello," Judith greeted, smiling in her usual, secretive manner.

"I sure hope you found something out, because we sure didn't," Rita said.

"As a matter of fact, I did," Judith said, her smile broadening slightly.

Flynn was relieved to hear this. So their journey here wasn't a waste of time after all. If Judith had found out something about Yuri's whereabouts, then all the aggravation Flynn had been feeling since they arrived here was worth it.

"Well? What did you find out?" Rita asked. "Did you find out where he is?"

"Oh yes," Judith said, nodding. "In fact, he says he says that he'll meet up with us as soon as he finishes what he's doing."

"What?! You mean he's here?!" Karol exclaimed, staring open mouthed at Judith.

Similar expressions of shock could be seen on the rest of the group. Judith's smile suddenly appeared very smug to Flynn. But if what Judith was saying was true, why hadn't Diane managed to find Yuri with her spell?

"That doesn't make any sense," Rita said, frowning. "We were just told that he wasn't here!"

"Hm... Well, I don't know why you were told that," Judith said, shrugging. "But I know for a fact that he _is_ here. I spoke to him myself."

"You spoke to him? So that means... that Yuri is all right?" Flynn asked.

"Yes. Yuri is fine," Judith replied.

Flynn sighed, feeling as if a great weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. This feeling was soon replaced by an urge to punch something. Preferably Yuri's face, which he intended to do as soon as he saw his friend again.

"Where is he going meet us?" Estellise asked.

"He said that he'll meet us by the goddess statue in the park since there won't be too many people there and we can talk privately," Judith replied.

"Works for me," Rita said, smirking. "I don't care where I beat him up so long as I get a chance to."

"R-Rita! You don't know Yuri's side of the story yet!" Estellise objected. "At least let him explain before you hit him."

"Hmph. That's more than he deserves," Rita muttered. "But I guess if you want me to, I can wait a little longer before beating him up."

"Well then. Shall I lead the way?" Judith asked.

"Yes. Let's go," Flynn said, nodding.

Judith led the group down a street past the castle and up a hill. At a certain point, they reached a small path that led up a grassy hill. Squinting, Flynn could just barely make out what appeared to be a statue at the top. They followed the path until they reached the statue. There were several benches nearby, and Rita, Raven and Karol quickly went to sit down upon them.

"I'm glad we get ta rest a bit," Raven said, letting out a sigh. "You kids are tiring me out with all this walking around in circles."

"Shut up," Rita muttered, throwing Raven an annoyed glare. "We weren't even walking around all that much. You're just lazy."

Estellise sat down beside Rita, looking up at the statue of a goddess that stood in the center of the park. A faintly nostalgic look crossed her face at the sight.

"That statue reminds me of the ones back in Zaphias," Estellise remarked.

Flynn looked up at the statue, noticing that it was remarkably similar to some of the statues he had seen back at the castle.

"I see what you mean," he said. "I wonder why they're so similar?"

"Who knows," Rita said, yawning. "When is Yuri going to get here anyways? Is he going to make us wait around all day for him?"

"We haven't been waiting that long," Karol pointed out.

"Shut up," Rita muttered, pulling out her book and throwing it at Karol, who swiftly ducked.

"He should be here any minute now," Judith said. "Just be patient."

Rita sighed, but nevertheless settled down to wait along with everyone else. Judith retrieved her book for her and she began reading it as the others began to chat quietly amongst themselves. Flynn went back to examining the statue. He began to wonder what on earth Yuri was doing in such a place. It seemed like his earlier theory that Yuri had been kidnapped was out, which only left the possibility that Yuri had gone willingly. But what on earth could the angels want with Yuri? Sure, Yuri had become a great hero and saved the world, but that was years ago and he had since settled down to run Brave Vesperia with Karol and occasionally go adventuring with Estellise. And if Yuri had known he would be taken away by angels, why didn't he say anything? Yuri almost never kept secrets from him. At least, not when he had a choice in the matter.

Speculating wasn't getting Flynn anywhere, so he gave up trying to figure things out. Yuri would be there soon enough, and then he would be able to demand an explanation. Flynn walked over to sit down beside Judith, who was staring up at the sky.

"Did Yuri tell you why he was brought here?" Flynn asked.

Judith looked over at Flynn, slightly surprised. Smiling, she shook her head.

"No, but I have a pretty good idea why he's here," Judith said.

"Really? What is it?" Flynn asked.

The Krytian woman looked back up at the sky, smiling mysteriously once again.

"I think Yuri would be able to explain better than I can," Judith replied. "He'll be here momentarily, and you can ask him then."

As Flynn opened his mouth to reply that he couldn't wait much longer than this, an angel suddenly landed on the ground in front of him, startling him out of his train of thought. The angel was dressed in a dark purple robe reaching about mid-thigh in length. By his side hung a sword that was attached to a thick, dark brown belt around his narrow waist. The angel's long black hair was braided and draped casually over one shoulder. Flynn looked up at the angel's face and was met with a familiar smirk.

"Hey Flynn," the angel greeted.

"Y-Yuri?!"

**[***]**

**End Note: **Did I make that plot twist too obvious? I did, didn't I? *crawls into corner to hide* Well, the plot should pick up from this point, so hopefully I'll finally get a chance to start writing some of the romance scenes in the next chapter. Ha... I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and haven't completely give up on me yet. Thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay in uploading this. I didn't realize things like school, depression, and self deprecation could be such setbacks. Well, now I know I guess. This is one of the longest chapters I've written so far. Hopefully, the chapters are getting better as I practice writing (they're certainly getting longer anyways). Not quite as much Fluri as I was expecting to write, but there is some nevertheless. I wrote an outline for this chapter, but the characters seem to have a mind of their own seeing as how this chapter didn't go in the direction that I had expected. Well, everything that I intended to explain at this point has been explained, and things have really gotten going. I'm hoping that I'll be able to write more soon. As usual, thank you to the people who reviewed; yaoiprincess101, Saxocrazy, Kaleiya, Safyre (Guest). Also to the people who followed/favorited this. I did my best to get this up as quickly as I could under the circumstances, and the fact that people have been following this was the main reason I'm eager to try so hard to make this good.

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**Chapter 5 - Normalcy**

Yuri grinned at Flynn, seeming infuriatingly nonchalant about the whole thing. Flynn stared at him, his mouth hanging open in surprise. This had _not_ been what he had expected to happen when he finally met Yuri again. Yuri seemed to be about to say something in response when he was nearly tackled to the ground from behind by a pink haired princess.

"Yuri!" Estellise exclaimed, burying her face into Yuri's plush white wings.

"Woah! Hey there Estelle!" Yuri exclaimed, laughing. "It's good to see you."

"I was so worried about you! I thought something terrible must have happened!" Estellise exclaimed, pulling away from Yuri and looking him over to check for injuries. "Are you alright?"

Rita let out a sigh and stormed over to them, followed closely behind by Karol.

"He looks fine to me," Rita said, drawing her fist back.

Yuri turned around just in time to be punched in the stomach by both Karol and Rita. He let out a grunt and stumbled backwards a little. He winced and clutched his stomach in pain. He glared at the two brunettes resentfully.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"For being a jerk and not telling anyone what was going on," Rita replied.

Yuri sighed in response, smiling slightly. Flynn got up and walked over to them, standing beside Estellise. Yuri glanced briefly at him before turning his attention back to Rita.

"Yeah… I guess I kinda did deserve that huh?"

"You're damn right you deserved that!" Rita replied, placing her hands on her hips. "The only thing holding me back from beating you up within an inch of your life is that Estelle wanted me to hear your explanation first. So you'd better start talking before my patience runs out."

"Thanks Estelle," Yuri said, shooting her a grateful smile. He sighed and looked up at the sky. "Let's see… Where should I start?"

"Well how about those large white wings of yours?" Raven suggested, gesturing to Yuri's wings. "Seems ta me that that'd be a good place to start."

"Ah, right… my wings," Yuri said, flexing his wings a bit. "I guess I must look kind of weird to you guys like this."

"No, not at all!" Estellise said quickly, shaking her head frantically.

"Well, maybe a little bit," Karol added.

"Karol!"

Estellise frowned disapprovingly at the young guild leader, who smiled a little sheepishly at her. Yuri didn't seem to mind all that much though.

"It's fine," Yuri said shrugging. "I know its strange that I just suddenly have wings."

"Well, it's a _little_ strange," Estellise admitted before quickly adding; "but that doesn't mean it's bad! They look very pretty! I think they suit you."

"You think so?" Yuri asked, looking back at his wings thoughtfully.

"Yes! They look so beautiful and soft," Estellise replied, her eyes shining with excitement. "Is… Is it alright if I touch them?"

"Huh? Uh… sure I guess," Yuri said, a little taken aback by the request. "Knock yourself out."

Estellise cautiously reached out to brush her hand against Yuri's wing, giggling excitedly. Karol watched her for a moment before reaching out to touch Yuri's wings himself. Yuri smirked slightly in amusement. Flynn watched the two friends marvelling at how soft Yuri's wings were and fought back the urge to touch the sleek white wings as well. He briefly considered asking permission to touch them as well, but he knew that Yuri would never let him hear the end of it if he asked such a thing. Besides that, he was still rather shocked that Yuri had wings in the first place, and touching them would reaffirm the fact that Yuri was indeed an angel, which was something that Flynn would rather not think about.

"This is so cool," Karol said, running his hand across the surface of Yuri's wings.

"I don't really understand what's so special about them," Yuri said, chuckling. "All angels have these. But I guess you're not used to them. Is it really that surprising that angels exist?"

"It's not just the fact that angels exist that's surprising to us, but the fact that you've become one of them," Rita said. "Actually, that's probably the most surprising thing about all of this. Why are you an angel now? It doesn't make sense."

"You didn't die did you?" Karol asked.

"No I didn't die," Yuri said, snorting in amusement. "Angels are a completely separate species from humans. Humans don't become angels when they die. You have to be born an angel."

"Huh? But aren't you a human like us?" Karol asked.

"It's kinda complicated," Yuri said, shrugging. "I don't really know how to explain it."

"Well figure out a way, because I'm not satisfied," Rita snapped. "If you have to be born an angel, then that means that you must have been an angel the whole time. But you didn't have wings earlier. Can you retract your wings or something?"

"Not exactly," Yuri said, gesturing helplessly. "It's true that I've been an angel the whole time, but I was also human… temporarily at least."

"I don't get it," Karol said, frowning. "How can someone be temporarily human?"

"Like I said, it's complicated," Yuri said, shrugging. "I never really expected to have to explain this to anyone. If I had, I would have spent more time thinking about it."

"I don't think I really understand any of this," Estellise said, frowning slightly in concentration.

"Sorry. I really don't understand it all myself," Yuri admitted.

"Well, you can at least tell us what you're doing here can't you?" Rita asked. "All this angel stuff aside, why didn't you tell any of us that you were leaving?"

Yuri paused, looking around at the group who were watching him intently. He sighed, and it was clear to Flynn from his expression that Yuri did not really enjoy having to explain everything. Well, it served him right for just disappearing all of a sudden.

"I wasn't able to," Yuri said, shrugging. "I would have told you if I could."

"But you told Flynn," Karol pointed out.

"That's… complicated," Yuri said, glancing at Flynn again. "I really didn't say anything outright about what was going on."

"Right. Which reminds me, I still need an explaination for that," Flynn remarked, placing one hand on his sword and looking meaningfully at Yuri. "I feel that I've been very patient under the circumstances, so would you kindly tell me why you suddenly disappeared the last time I saw you?"

Yuri sighed, tugging on the end of his braid and meeting Flynn's eyes for a brief moment before averting his gaze. Flynn could have sworn that Yuri had been looking at him with an almost wistful expression before reverting to his usual poker face.

"That was a miscalculation on my part," Yuri replied. "Before I knew it, I had to leave."

Flynn frowned slightly. Yuri was lying to him. Or at least, he wasn't telling Flynn the whole truth. It seemed that Yuri was getting a bit fidgety, and it dawned on Flynn that there was probably a whole lot that the long haired man wasn't telling them.

"A miscalculation was it?" Flynn asked. "Are you saying that you already knew that you were going to leave for a while?"

"Well… yeah. I knew for a while that I'd be leaving. But believe me, I would have told you if I could have," Yuri said, bringing his gray eyes to meet Flynn's gaze dead on. "That's the truth."

"Alright, I believe you. But why did you have to leave on my birthday? Why on that specific day? I know that there is still more to this then you are telling us."

"You have to tell us Yuri," Karol added. "You're not allowed to keep things secret from us, remember? It's one of Brave Vesperia's rules."

Yuri smiled slightly at the mention of his guild, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, you're right boss," Yuri replied. "I had to leave that day because I didn't have a choice. I was only sent to the surface for a limited amount of time. Once that time was up, I had to leave, whether I wanted to or not."

"Are you saying that you didn't want to leave?" Karol asked.

"It's…. well… things are kinda complicated," Yuri said, avoiding giving a straight answer once again. "It doesn't really matter anyways. Either way, I had to go back home."

"But the Lower Quarter is your home, isn't it?" Flynn found himself saying. The blond felt slightly sick to his stomach as he watched Yuri turn to him in surprise. Yuri was still the same person that he remembered, at yet, he wasn't. It wasn't just the wings, although they were a big part of it. Everything about being an angel, calling this place his home, and most of all keeping all these secrets from him. Was this the real Yuri? Was the Yuri that Flynn had known practically all his life just an act? That couldn't be right. He didn't want to believe it, though he still couldn't help but be worried about it. Yuri smiled at him and it made Flynn want to punch him in the face. Flynn was certainly not about to let Yuri get away with avoiding questions simply because things were 'complicated'. He would not be satisfied until Yuri gave him a proper explanation.

"The Lower Quarter is my home too," Yuri replied. He paused a minute, looking up at the sky with a nostalgic smile on his face. "To tell you the truth, I've been trying to think of this place as my home, but it's just not the same as the Lower Quarter. Most of my childhood was spent there after all, and it's kind of hard to really feel the same way about anywhere else. I didn't really spend enough time here to think of it as my real home, especially since I barely know anyone here."

Flynn relaxed upon hearing this. Yet even though he believed Yuri, he also had a suspicion that the only reason he believed it was because he wanted to. He wanted to believe that Yuri was still the same person that he always had been, and he would accept any evidence that proved that this was the case.

"Well, if you feel that way, you should hurry up and go back," Rita said. "And on the trip back you can tell us more about all of this."

"... The trip back?" Yuri asked, growing tense and pursing his lips a little. "Ah… Actually I have some things that I have to take care of here. I can't just go back with you guys."

"You can't? What sort of things do you have to take care of?" Rita asked, frowning.

"There's just… some stuff that I have to sort out. It doesn't really concern you."

"Doesn't concern me?" Rita asked, her temper flaring. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Rita! Calm down!" Estellise said, quickly grabbing Rita's arm before she could hit Yuri again. "We can't just expect Yuri to come along with us right away. It's only natural that he'd have to finish some things here before he can come back with us. Otherwise he wouldn't be here at all."

Flynn watched Yuri, and his heart sank when he realized that Yuri hadn't had any intention of going back with them. That wasn't really surprising, seeing as how Yuri hadn't expected them to follow him in the first place. Even so, Flynn resolved to have a talk with Yuri about it when he got the chance. Yuri was going to go back with them, and if Flynn had to tie him up and drag him onto the boat then so be it.

"Is there anything we can do to help you?" Karol asked. "We're not leaving without you, so we may as well help you out while we're here."

Yuri seemed at a loss for how to respond, and Flynn watched as Yuri contemplated what to say. He considered jumping in to try to help Yuri, but decided against it. After all, Yuri had brought this upon himself. At least, Flynn thought he did. He wasn't really sure what to think about things at the moment. There were still a lot of questions that had been left unanswered.

"There isn't really anything you can do, but thanks for offering," Yuri replied. "It… it will be some time before I can finish everything. But if you guys want to wait around for a bit, I don't mind. You'll need somewhere to stay while you wait for me, but I'm sure it won't be for too long so that shouldn't be too hard to find somewhere."

Flynn grit his teeth and clenched his fists for a moment before relaxing again. He hated it when Yuri lied, and he knew that Yuri was doing so now. But Yuri never lied unless he had a good reason for it, so Flynn decided that perhaps it would be better if he didn't call attention to it.

"You can explore for a bit while you're here too," Yuri added. "I have a bit of free time tomorrow, so I could give you guys the grand tour. How does that sound?"

"That sounds awesome!" Karol exclaimed, clearly excited.

"It does sound quite splendid. Are you sure that showing us around won't be any trouble though?" Estellise asked, her sparkling eyes revealing her restrained excitement about the prospect of exploring this strange new place.

"Don't worry about it Estelle. He owes us," Rita said, looking disapprovingly at Yuri. "And I myself want to see a bit more of this place. For research purposes."

"It's decided then," Judith said, smiling in amusement at everyone's obvious excitement.

Raven yawned and folded his arms behind his head.

"You kids are sure energetic," Raven commented. "I don't know about you, but what I really want right now is ta get a good night's sleep."

"That's a good idea," Estellise agreed. "We have had a really eventful day after all."

"Where are we going to stay though?" Karol asked.

Yuri hummed thoughtfully, looking off into the distance.

"You know, I actually think my old house may still be vacant," Yuri said. "If it is, I don't see any problem with you guys all staying there for a bit. It's just up the road from here."

"Which way is it?" Karol asked.

"That way," Yuri replied, pointing down a nearby road. "It's all the way down at the end of the road."

"Great! Let's go!"

Karol ran off down the road to search for Yuri's house, despite not knowing what the house was supposed to look like.

"Ah! Wait Karol!" Estellise called, hurrying after him.

Rita followed close behind her and Judith and Raven followed at a more normal pace. Flynn hung back, grabbing Yuri's arm as the angel made to follow them.

"You don't intend to go back, do you?" Flynn asked, voicing what he had realized as soon as Yuri had hesitated before saying that he would go back with them soon.

Yuri opened his mouth as if to object, before thinking better of it and shaking his head. Yuri had never been able to lie to Flynn, and they both knew it. Even if his poker face was perfect, Flynn could sense it when Yuri was hiding something. After knowing - or thinking that he knew - Yuri for so long, it was only natural that he'd be able to do that.

"No, you're right. I don't," Yuri admitted.

"Why did you lie to Karol then?"

"I was… hoping to get a chance to break the news to him slowly, like I should have done in the first place," Yuri said. "I really can't go back with you guys, but I can't bring myself to tell everyone that."

"Why can't you come back with us though?"

"Because this is my home now. I'm an angel, and this is where angels live. Angels like me don't have a place back on the surface."

"What do you mean you 'don't have a place'?! What about your guild? What about all the people you said that you wanted to help?! Isn't that your place?"

Yuri sighed, tugging at the neckline of his dark purple tunic uncomfortably.

"If it was, then I wouldn't have left. There really are things that I have to do here, and besides that I don't have much say in the matter."

"Are you being held here against your will?"

"Not… not exactly. It's complicated," Yuri said, sighing. "I can't go back because I never belonged there in the first place. Angels aren't able to exist on the surface. I was able to live together with you, but only temporarily. I can't continue existing on the surface the way I am now. This is the way that things have to be. But if it's any consolation, I plan to keep watching over all of you from up here. I promised that I'd always be with you didn't I?"

"But you're _not_ with me if you're up here instead of by my side!"

Repede whined and the two men glanced down at the dog. Yuri smiled and knelt beside him, reaching out to pet him.

"Hey Repede," Yuri greeted. "Long time no see."

Repede growled and turned his head away. Yuri chuckled, pulling his hand back.

"Don't be like that. I really don't have a choice about this. This is where I have to live now," Yuri said. "But you'll keep looking after Flynn for me, won't you?"

Repede barked in response and Yuri grinned, getting to his feet once more.

"Repede'll look after you," Yuri said, turning back to Flynn. "You're in good hands. Or, paws rather."

Flynn was silent for a moment before turning on his heels and heading up the road towards Yuri's house. Yuri and Repede glanced at each other before quickly following him.

"Flynn? Is something wrong?"

"_Everything_ is wrong Yuri! I don't know what to think anymore!" Flynn snapped, glancing at Yuri before turning to face straight ahead. "I don't understand why you can't come back with us. You say that angels can't exist on the surface, but you did it before. Why on earth can't you do it again?"

"Because I was there to complete a task," Yuri replied, jogging to keep up with Flynn's fast pace. "The archangels made me human enough to exist there for a set amount of time so that I could complete it. Once that time was up, I had to come back. Staying with you for the rest of my life wasn't really an option for me."

Flynn stopped abruptly and Yuri nearly ran into him.

"What is it? Is it that you don't want to see me anymore?"

"No, that's not it," Yuri insisted.

"Then ask the archangels to make you human again."

"I can't do that Flynn."

"Why the hell not?" Flynn snapped clenching his fists.

"Because it doesn't work like that. They don't just change people into mortals on a whim. There needs to be a purpose behind it."

"Returning you to your normal self seems like a pretty damn good purpose to me!"

"Flynn, this is my normal self."

"No it's not!" Flynn replied, turning to face Yuri. He froze once he caught sight of Yuri's expression. Yuri stood a few feet away from Flynn, his eyes cast downwards and his shoulders slumped. Flynn had never seen Yuri look more defeated than he looked at this moment. He realized too late that he had said something that really hurt Yuri.

"... Do you really hate the way I am now that much?" Yuri asked quietly.

"I-I didn't mean it like that," Flynn replied, placing a hand on Yuri's shoulder. Yuri quickly brushed it off and looked up at Flynn with a pained expression.

"Didn't you? I see the way you look at me now. It's like I'm some kind of freak!" Yuri snapped. "Not that I blame you. I liked myself better as a human as well. Even though I felt out of place at first, I really felt that I had a purpose there. I had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone and going on adventures together. And even though you and I argued a lot, there was no one who I trusted more. We were really close friends, and that was more valuable to me than anything else. But now that I'm back to my original form, I've lost all of that…"

"No you haven't! I'm still your friend Yuri. I don't think that you're a freak or anything like that. I was just a little shocked because you seem so different now… It seems like everything I used to know about you has changed."

Yuri sighed, but didn't move away when Flynn placed a hand on his shoulder again in a rather pathetic attempt to comfort the other man.

"I'm still the same person you knew Flynn. I may be a different species than you thought I was, but the fact that I kept that a secret doesn't mean anything. I didn't have a choice whether or not to tell you about all of… this," Yuri said, gesturing to their surroundings. "I didn't want you to find out though since I knew that you were going to feel the way that you do about everything. I know you pretty well, and so I know that it must seem to you that a lot has changed when it really hasn't changed much at all."

Flynn wanted to comment that a lot _had_ changed, but he knew better. He was starting to realize that he wasn't the only one who was affected negatively by everything that had happened. Yuri was affected too, probably in ways that Flynn didn't know about yet.

"So you're saying that I should treat you the way I normally do, is that it?"

"You don't have to, but it'd be nice," Yuri said, smiling slightly. "I don't like being treated like I'm a completely different person. I'm still the same as I've always been."

"So you're still stubborn and incorrigible you mean?"

"Hey!" Yuri replied, smirking and punching Flynn in the shoulder.

"I just speak the truth," Flynn said, shrugging and grinning as he quickly dodged another swipe from Yuri and ran off.

Yuri chased after Flynn, having no trouble in catching up to him despite the fact that Flynn had gotten a head start. Glancing over his shoulder, Flynn noticed that Yuri had a huge grin on his face. Suddenly, Yuri sprang forward and jumped onto his back, knocking Flynn down to the ground. Flynn grunted, twisting around and trying to push Yuri off of him.

"Yuri! Get off of me!"

"Ask nicely," Yuri teased, smirking down at him. The long haired man sat with his legs on either side of Flynn's waist, placing his hands on either side of Flynn's head for support. Flynn sighed in exasperation. Yuri could be such a kid at times.

"Off. Now," Flynn demanded, pushing a bit harder.

Yuri laughed and refused to budge. Flynn pushed one of Yuri's arms away and Yuri let out a cry of surprise, falling down on top of him. The angel continued laughing, and Flynn chuckled a little as well. Yuri seemed so free spirited at times like these. Angel or not, this was the side of Yuri that Flynn liked the best. Yuri's warm and surprisingly heavy body pinned Flynn to the ground, several strands of loose black hair tickling the blond's cheek.

"Are you two alright?"

Yuri looked up and Flynn craned his neck to see Estellise running up to them, looking concerned. Judith followed behind her, looking amused at the scene in front of her.

"Yeah, we're fine Estelle. We just tripped."

"Both of you tripped at the same time?" Judith asked, making no attempt to keep her expression from showing exactly what she thought about Yuri's explanation. "That really is a peculiar coincidence, isn't it?"

"No Judy. I tripped and knocked Flynn over," Yuri said, rolling his eyes at her as he slowly got off of Flynn. "Don't be ridiculous."

"You tripped? Did you hurt yourself at all?"

Estellise began checking Yuri for injuries as he got to his feet. Flynn got up as well, slipping one hand around Yuri's waist to pull him away from Estellise. Sometimes, the princess could be really fussy if she thought someone was hurt. Since Yuri was particularly prone to injury, it wasn't uncommon to see Estellise fussing over Yuri. Although Flynn would never admit it to the princess, it was actually a little annoying.

"He's fine Lady Estellise," Flynn said, shaking his head. "He was just being reckless, as usual. You don't need to waste your concern on him."

"My, my," Judith murmured, raising her eyebrows in mild surprise.

Estellise glanced at Judith before looking back at Yuri and Flynn, a faint pink blush spreading across her cheeks for some reason and she took a few steps back.

"O-okay," she replied. "We just came to see what was taking you two so long. The others have already let themselves into your house. I hope that's ok."

"Yeah, it's fine," Yuri said, shrugging. "How did they know which house was mine though?"

"Your last name is painted on the gate."

"Oh yeah," Yuri said, laughing. "I forgot about that. Why don't you two go on to the house ahead of us? We'll be there soon."

"S-sure," Estellise replied, still seeming flustered.

The princess hurried off back the way she had come. Judith gave Flynn a look that he couldn't quite decipher before following. Flynn frowned slightly, wondering what on earth that look was supposed to mean. Something about it seemed rather… indecent.

"You can let go of me now Flynn," Yuri said after a moment of silence had gone by.

Flynn blinked, realization suddenly dawning on him about what the situation must look like. He quickly let go of Yuri's waist, taking a step back from the other man.

"Um… I didn't mean to-" Flynn began, pausing when Yuri waved a hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it," Yuri said. "Actually, I should thank you. Estelle is always makes a huge deal about it when she thinks that someone has hurt themselves. I'm not sure how you managed to get her to back off, but whatever it was, it worked."

Flynn gaped at Yuri in mild shock. Could it be that Yuri was even more clueless about these sorts of things than Flynn was? He found that rather hard to believe. Before he could comment though, Yuri had already walked off in the same direction as Estellise and Judith. Sighing, Flynn followed him, looking at the houses they passed. The houses around them were a bit simpler and spaced a bit further apart than the ones closer to the center of the city. Soon, they reached a quaint little stone house with a garden of lilies in the front. A white fence surrounded the house and "Lowell" was painted on the gate in gold letters. Flynn glanced at Yuri skeptically.

"You never struck me as the white picket fence kind of guy," he commented.

"Well, I'm not really," Yuri said, shrugging. "My parents were the ones who took care of this place until they died and I was left on my own. I was five when I last saw this place, so I wasn't really about to make any changes to the decor."

"Oh…" Flynn said, looking up at the house again and wondering what Yuri's early childhood had been like. It wasn't really that important since Flynn really had known Yuri for most of his life, and therefore knew pretty well what kind of person he was as a child, but he was still a little curious. Yuri had left everything that was familiar to for some sort of greater purpose that Flynn didn't understand. It must have been hard for him to leave home at such a young age.

"You coming Flynn?"

Flynn looked down to see that Yuri had gone through the gate and was waiting by the door for him.

"Y-yes I am," Flynn said, quickly pushing past the gate. "Sorry."

Yuri looked at Flynn, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Are you ok? You've been acting kinda weird."

"I'm just… overwhelmed I suppose," Flynn replied.

"Well, you'll be able to rest for a bit here," Yuri said, the smile he gave Flynn more gentle than Flynn had seen it in a long time. "You'll get used to all of this after a while."

Flynn followed Yuri as he went inside and into the living room. There they found everyone sitting around and waiting for them. There wasn't much furniture inside the room besides a couch, and armchair, and a table. There was a fireplace and several bookshelves as well, but from the way that Rita was sneezing as she read one of the books, Flynn surmised that the books were covered in dust from having been laying around for years.

"Oh, there you guys are," Karol said, looking up from the book which Estellise had been showing to him. "It took you long enough."

"Sorry about that," Yuri said, chuckling and sitting down on the couch beside Karol.

"What were you doing that made you take so long to get here?" Rita asked, looking up from the book that she was reading.

"We were just talking and lost track of time," Flynn said, taking the free spot on the couch beside Yuri. His arm brushed up against one of Yuri's wings and he glanced over at it. It really did look soft. Before he realized what he was doing, he had reached out to run his fingertips across it. It was even softer than it appeared. Yuri's wings felt a lot like the smooth, velvet curtains in the castle, but they were also slightly warm to the touch. Whatever Flynn had been expecting to feel, actually touching Yuri's wings felt much better than he could have imagined.

He only realized what he was doing when he noticed Yuri looking at him strangely. Flynn quickly drew his hand back and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. He had expected everyone to be staring, but no one seemed to really be paying attention. Estellise had moved beside Rita to show her the book instead, Karol was leaning over the arm of the couch to pet Repede, and Raven was looking out the window. The only person who seemed to notice was Judith, who simply gave Flynn a knowing smile before pretending to be interested in the books on the bookshelf. Looking back at Yuri, he found that the other man was smirking in amusement. Flynn waited for Yuri to tease him, but he never did. Instead Yuri turned to look at Karol.

"So Karol, what do you think of this place?" Yuri asked.

"It's really cool," Karol replied, looking up and grinning. "Did you really live here as a kid?"

"Yeah, for five years," Yuri said, glancing at Flynn. "After that I was sent to the surface. I don't really remember much about this place, but from what I do remember, it hasn't changed very much."

"What was it like growing up here?"

"It was… different," Yuri replied, shrugging. "They make a lot of rules here, and even children are expected to follow them."

"So I guess that means that you got into trouble a lot," Flynn remarked.

"Me? Trouble?" Yuri asked, feigning innocence. "Why on earth would you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know," Flynn said, rolling his eyes. "Maybe because you already had a bad reputation among the knights stationed in the Lower Quarter when you were eight."

"Hey, I'm not the only one who caused trouble," Yuri said, poking Flynn's arm. "I remember a certain someone helping me out with my mischief back then."

"Not willingly, I assure you."

"Sure didn't seem that way to me."

Flynn gave Yuri a playful punch in the arm, trying and failing to look stern. Yuri grinned at Flynn and responded by elbowing Flynn in the ribs, not quite hard enough to hurt. Estellise giggled, turning to face the two men sitting on the couch.

"You two really are close friends aren't you?" she asked.

"Uh… yeah I guess so," Yuri said, looking over at Estellise "I mean, that's rather obvious isn't it? We've known each other for almost our whole lives."

"Well I mean, even though you've changed so much, you two are still interacting the same way," Estellise replied. "It's really nice to see that."

Yuri scowled and shook his head, his mood turning sour.

"Look, let me make one thing clear," Yuri said. "I haven't really changed that much. Where I come from shouldn't affect the way you look at me or treat me now. I thought you of all people would understand that Estelle."

"A-ah, right. I'm sorry…" Estellise replied, looking surprised for a brief moment before looking down at her feet in embarrassment. "I didn't mean that."

Rita looked up from her book and glared at Yuri.

"What's wrong with you?" Rita snapped. "You don't have any right to be giving out lectures now."

"Tch. Get off my case Rita."

"Not until you apologize to Estelle!"

Yuri sighed, getting to his feet abruptly and looking around the room before finally focusing his gaze on the pink haired princess who was currently toying with her skirt in a nervous fashion. Yuri seemed reluctant to say anything at all, but Flynn could tell that he regretted losing his temper in front of everyone.

"Sorry Estelle," Yuri muttered. "Excuse me. I'm going out for a bit."

He hurried out of the room as everyone looked on in shock, taken aback by Yuri's sudden foul mood. Flynn folded his hands in his lap and looked down at them. Talking about things changing really seemed to bother Yuri, probably even more than the long haired man would willingly admit. Flynn bit his lip, realizing that Yuri must have been much more upset by what he had said earlier than he had thought. If it was bad enough for Yuri to let his guard down and let some innocent remark get to him, then Flynn would have to do something about it.

"H-hey! I'm not finished with you!" Rita called after Yuri.

She was answered by the sound of the front door slamming. Rita let out an exasperated sigh and turned her attention back to the book she was holding.

"What was that all about?" Raven asked, glancing at the doorway before peering out the window again.

"I think I may know. I'm going to go talk to him," Flynn said, getting to his feet.

"Are you sure?" Karol asked. "He seemed… kinda upset."

"I'm sure," Flynn replied, nodding. "I understand Yuri pretty well. I think that I may be able to sort this out."

"Good luck with that," Rita said, rolling her eyes. "That guy is just impossible sometimes."

Flynn smiled at her and went back through the doorway and out through the front door. He spotted Yuri a short distance away and ran over to him just as they reached a small wooded area nearby. Flynn grabbed Yuri's shoulder and spun him around so that they were standing face to face. Yuri glared at Flynn and crossed his arm defiantly.

"Are you gonna yell at me for not properly apologizing to Estelle? Because if you are, you can save your breath. I already know, and I plan to talk to her later and sort things out. Right now though, I want to be alone, so please save your lectures for later."

"That's not why I'm here. I just want to talk to you."

"Yeah? Well maybe I don't want to talk. Ever think of that? Leave me alone."

Yuri pulled away, spreading his wings and taking off. Flynn cursed under his breath and ran after him, stopping once Yuri landed atop a nearby tree. He didn't look at Flynn, and it seemed pretty clear that he didn't expect Flynn to follow him up such a tall tree.

"You should've known me better than to think I'd just give up Yuri," Flynn muttered, rolling up his sleeves as he did his best to start scaling the tree. The bark scraped him a little bit, but he didn't care. His complete attention was focused on climbing the tree. So much so that he nearly lost his balance when a hand reached out and grabbed his. Looking up, He saw Yuri perched on the branch above him. "Y-Yuri?"

"You're one stubborn guy, you know that?"

"You should know," Flynn replied, smirking slightly. "You've known me for a pretty long time."

Yuri chuckled, his usual smirk once more spreading across his face. He did his best to help Flynn up to the branch he was on, and Flynn grabbed the branch with his other hand as Yuri managed to pull him up. Flynn shifted so that he was in a more comfortable position and Yuri leaned back, sitting on the branch with his legs on either side of it. Flynn regarded Yuri curiously for a moment, holding the branch with both hands to keep himself from falling off.

"Yuri… You could have easily gotten away from me, so why didn't you?"

Yuri hesitated for a moment, then sighed, smiling a little sheepishly at Flynn.

"I guess I didn't really _want_ to escape. I really would like someone to talk to about this… And I know that you'll probably understand me better than anyone can. It's just so much to deal with. Everything's changed..."

"No it hasn't. You told me that you're still the same person that you've always been, and I believe that that's true. You're still the same person that I've grown up together with. You haven't changed at all."

"I know that_ I_ haven't changed," Yuri muttered, reaching up to undo the braid that his hair was tied in. "But everything _else_ has. That's the problem. I don't know how to deal with all of this. I've been trying to act normal, but this is getting ridiculous. Everyone keeps looking at me strangely and they all act like they don't know me at all."

Flynn watched as Yuri combed out his hair, undoing the braid and letting it fall freely about his shoulders as he usually did. Flynn stared at Yuri as the other man began to fiddle with the blastia around his wrist. Then it hit him. Yuri hadn't wanted any of this to begin with. He had been hinting this whole time that he hadn't _wanted_ to come back to this place and become an angel, he _had_ to. He felt so stupid for not realizing this before. Flynn had simply assumed that all of this was normal to Yuri, but they both felt the same about all of this. He couldn't believe that he had been so self centered that he hadn't noticed the way that Yuri was suffering.

"Yuri… I'm sorry," Flynn said, reaching out and taking Yuri's hand in his. "I promise to talk to everyone and explain it to them."

"Thanks but… I don't think that'll really help," Yuri said, looking down at their joined hands with a distant expression. "I need to get used to my new life anyways. It's hard enough to do that when all of you are here since you all bring back too many memories of the things that I can't have any more. It's probably for the best that they think I've changed. It'll be harder in the long run if they end up treating me the same as they used to and start really believing that I'm only here for a visit and that I can go back any time."

"Why can't you just come back with us? What's stopping you?"

Yuri threw Flynn an exasperated look, as if Flynn had just asked the most idiotic question that he could have possibly asked.

"For one thing, I'm an angel. I wouldn't exactly fit in."

"That's not a problem," Flynn insisted. "People will get used to it. I did."

"Yeah, but you're… you. Not everyone knows me as well as you do, and I don't want to live out the rest of my life being looked at like some sort of freak of nature," Yuri replied. "Besides, I'm not allowed to leave anyways. It's one of the rules. I explained that already."

"And you really can't just break the rules?"

Yuri raised his eyebrows in surprise at the suggestion, letting out a low whistle.

"Wow, did I just hear correctly?" Yuri asked. "Did the Commandant of the Imperial Knights just tell me that I should break the law? I must be going crazy."

"I'm serious Yuri! I don't like to encourage you to do anything illegal, but there really isn't any real reason that you have to stay here is there?"

"Aside from it being the law? There really are things that I have to take care of here. When I suggested to someone that I be sent back, they went off about what my 'duty' to the angels is and useless crap like that. I'd rather get out of here as fast as I can instead of having to deal with all that, but I don't have a choice."

"How can you 'not have a choice'? You're the one who is always saying that people should do their own thing, regardless of what their duty is. I don't normally agree with that statement, but I just don't get why you won't go if that's what you want to do."

Yuri sighed, leaning back against the trunk of the tree.

"You don't get it Flynn. I _have_ to follow the law," Yuri replied. "It was different when I was on the surface with you. The laws there are the ones set by humans to ensure that society runs smoothly. If people want to break them, they can. That doesn't mean that they should, but they can. But here, angels have to follow the laws set by the archangels. From the moment an angel is born, that angel has to follow the laws. It's in their blood. It's in _my_ blood. If I ever try to leave… my body just won't cooperate."

"So you're saying… You'd leave if you could, but you can't because there is some sort of force that's stopping you?"

"I guess you could say that…" Yuri replied. "Whatever the explanation for it is, I can't leave. I tried once, when I wanted to see if I could, but since the archangels had told me not to go back once my duty had been completed, I can't do it."

"Could one of the archangels turn you back to the way you used to be so that you could live on the surface with us?"

"Well sure one of them _could_, theoretically speaking, but that's not happening anytime soon, believe me. I finished the task they sent me to complete, and that's all they care about."

"What was this 'task'? Can't you get another one like it?"

Yuri was silent, looking away into the distance.

"What my task was isn't really important now," Yuri replied, waving a hand dismissively. "I've completed everything that I was sent to do, and angels are usually only sent to the surface once, if at all. It's great that you want to help me get back and all, I really appreciate that, but it's impossible. All you can do now will help me figure out how I'm supposed to adapt to living in a place that has even stricter rules than the knights do."

"Stricter rules than the imperial knights? You're doomed," Flynn said, smiling slightly.

Yuri laughed, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "I barely even lasted a month in the knights. And the people here are as stuffy as the people who live in the Royal Quarter. How do you deal with it all of the time?"

"Paperwork. Its a good excuse not to deal with them when I don't feel like it," Flynn replied. Yuri made a disgusted face in response and Flynn laughed. "Yeah, I can see that that's not really an option for you. But another thing that helps is having someone to talk to…"

"So you're saying I should make some new friends huh?"

"I guess so," Flynn said, biting his lip. For some reason, the thought of Yuri becoming a close friends with an angel didn't sit well with him, since he still wasn't sure he could trust any of the angels besides Yuri. But he had been the one to suggest it, and it would be weird to retract his advice now. Especially if it would be helpful to Yuri. The angels they had met earlier had seemed nice enough, but Flynn just couldn't picture Yuri together with any of them. "If you're really going to have to stay here forever I mean."

"I am," Yuri said, sighing. "But thanks. You're right. I really should stop moping around. I just… really miss the people in the Lower Quarter, and the people in Brave Vesperia… and you. It's really great that I was able to see you again. You never realize how much you'll miss a person until you're not able to see them any more."

"I know," Flynn said, squeezing Yuri's hand. "I was there. You know, I panicked when you disappeared. I thought something terrible had happened to you."

"Yeah, I guess that must've seemed weird," Yuri said, shrugging. "I probably should have kept better track of the time. Back then, I kept telling myself that I was just going to spend some time with you to celebrate your birthday, and leave before it got too late. Before I realized it though, it had gotten really late and I was brought back here before I could leave normally."

"So that's what happened? That really explains a lot."

"Well, at least my exit was dramatic," Yuri said, pulling his hand back and folding his arms behind his head. "But I didn't expect that you would end up following me all the way here. If I had known that, I would have been more careful… Or perhaps I wouldn't have. I'm kinda glad that you came here. It's been kinda lonely staying here all by myself, and seeing you again was a relief."

Yuri drew his knees up to his chest, resting his chin on top of them. Flynn glanced down at Yuri's exposed legs before looking away quickly.

"Um… This may be a bit off topic, but are you really comfortable wearing something like that?" Flynn asked, tugging at the collar of his shirt.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Yuri asked, tilting his head to one side and looking quizzically at Flynn. "Do my clothes look weird?"

"Well your robe is kind of... short. Isn't it awkward to dress like that?"

"Not really," Yuri replied, shrugging. "I mean, everyone dresses like this here, so I got used to it after a while."

"But most of the other people that I've seen are more… covered up."

Yuri laughed at that, straightening out his long, slender legs so that his calves were resting on top of Flynn's lap. Flynn found himself looking down involuntarily and quickly looked back up, focusing on Yuri's face, which currently sported a huge smirk of amusement.

"You know me, I'm not exactly the most modest person when it comes to the way I dress. I don't really see any reason to cover my legs. Since I'm not ashamed of them, there's no reason to hide them. Actually, I think they look pretty nice, don't you?"

"Yes, yes, they're very nice. Now get off of me," Flynn said, pushing Yuri's feet off and shifting a little away from him. His face felt hot. In fact, his whole body felt hot. And uncomfortable. What on earth was going on with him? It surely couldn't have been from Yuri's teasing. But as he thought about it, he remembered his earlier speculation about feeling something more than friendship for Yuri.

As soon as that thought had surfaced, Flynn quickly dismissed it. There was no way that that was the case. They had spent their whole lives just being friends. If Flynn was going to fall for Yuri, surely he would have already done so by now. Perhaps it was different for Yuri though. He couldn't always tell what was on the dark haired man's mind after all. Maybe Yuri had had a crush on Flynn for years and he had just never noticed. If that were the case, then Flynn would have to think up a way to politely turn him down. Or perhaps he would give in and date Yuri for a little bit, just to be polite since he didn't want to completely reject Yuri or something like that. Of course, Flynn wouldn't let anything go any further than maybe holding Yuri's hand, or embracing him, or kissing him on the cheek, or…

Wait, what was he thinking? Flynn shook his head, his cheeks flushing slightly as he realized where his train of thought had been going. Yuri had never given any indication that he had any feelings other than friendship for him. He was just leaping to conclusions here.

Having been off in his own little fantasy, Flynn suddenly realized that Yuri wasn't paying attention to him any more. He was looking off into the distance at something. Flynn followed his gaze, but didn't see anything besides several nearby buildings and trees and one figure who appeared to be a red haired angel dressed in long white robes. There didn't seem to be much else nearby, and Flynn wondered what Yuri was looking at.

"Yuri? Is something the matter?" Flynn asked, looking back at Yuri.

"No… No everything's fine," Yuri replied, tearing his gaze away from whatever he had been looking at. "I just… I have to go."

"What? Why?" Flynn asked, frowning slightly. "What's going on?"

"Nothings going on," Yuri said, shaking his head. "I just have to get going. Tell the others that I'll be by in the late morning to show you guys around. And tell Estelle that I really didn't mean to snap at her. I've just been a bit on edge lately."

"Ok, but where are you going?"

Yuri sighed and shook his head.

"It's not important. I'll see you tomorrow Flynn. Good night."

With that, Yuri took off, spreading his wings and gliding down to the ground, landing a good distance away from the tree. The red haired angel that Flynn had noticed earlier seemed to spot Yuri and walked over to him. The two talked a bit, but they were too far away for Flynn to hear what they were saying. As a matter of fact, Flynn couldn't really make out what they were doing very clearly, and he leaned over a bit to try to get a better look. What he saw was the red haired angel putting an arm around Yuri's waist and pulling the other angel close to him. Were they… Did they just kiss? Flynn shook his head vigorously. No, it must have been the angle he was looking from. As far as Flynn knew, Yuri didn't have any sort of lover in this place.

However, as he thought about it, Flynn remembered that there were actually a lot of things that he didn't know about Yuri when it came to the angel realm. Even if Yuri was the same person, that didn't mean that he hadn't changed at all. Yuri had told him a lot about this place, but there were also a lot of things that Yuri was keeping secret about it, and a lot of topics that Yuri would change the subject from. Did Yuri have a special someone who Flynn didn't know about? He found it hard to believe, even if much about Yuri's life as an angel was still a mystery to him. Surely Yuri wouldn't have gotten so close to someone in only a few days of knowing them, especially since he had insisted that the angels were mostly elitist like the nobles in Zaphias whom Yuri despised with a burning passion. Perhaps someone from Yuri's past then? But Yuri wouldn't have been that close to someone at such a young age. Maybe Flynn was reading too far into things.

Flynn tried to climb down from the tree, awkwardly holding onto the branch he was sitting on while he struggled to find somewhere to put his feet. He tried to stretch down and find a foothold, but he slipped and tumbled down. His fall was slowed by two branches before he landed heavily on the ground, though Flynn wasn't really sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Either way, it had hurt a lot. Looking up, Flynn spotted two figures in the sky who looked sort of like Yuri and that red haired angel.

Groaning, Flynn sat up and rubbed the back of his head. Who was that red haired angel that Yuri was with? What was his connection to Yuri? Flynn would have to ask Yuri these things the next time they met. Meanwhile though, Flynn shakily got to his feet and began making his way back to Yuri's home.


End file.
